On the Horizon
by fidda-fletcher
Summary: Hermione is a widow trying to begin life anew in Hogsmeade with an interesting neighbor. Chap 17: Severus explains his relationship with Eleanor, more time together and nightmares...
1. PrologueThe Neighbors

Disclaimer: I do not own, or ever will, the Harry Potter Universe so wonderfully created by JKRowling. Please do not sue, I highly doubt I could afford it. Thanks for reading!  
  
On The Horizon  
  
Prologue:  
  
In an English city, in a very calm and pleasant house lived a young woman who had once been the envy and sometimes enemy of many wizards and witches. She had graduated with top scores on her N.E.W.T.S and in fact had rivaled and out-scored several of her professors, though some were quite unlikely to admit such defeat. She chose, rather after spending some time as a teacher in pre-wizarding schools for witches and wizards, that she preferred a simpler life. Not that she never used magic or had given up her witch status, she had simply chosen to live in a less populated city and live a life in the semblance of both lives. After all, she had been born a muggle( non-magic folk) and therefore it had always seemed a bit simpler for her to just accept her life as a fairly modern witch who could utilize the skills she had learned in her childhood. It had been a month since she had left Scotland for Hogsmeade.

She had met her husband in Scotland, a lovely little place in Caithness where her family had visited since she was a child. She remembered him every summer when the lush mountains were in the distance and her bicycle was like an airplane flying her off to any location at a whim. she remembered, as well, being extremely crushed when he had married and had a child.  
  
During her school years their families had vacationed together a few times, but then it wasn't anything more than a simple school girl's crush, at that time she rather thought he looked too much like her former DADA professor, Gilderoy lockhart (whom she had feigned over like a nun at a Full Monty show).It was odd the way their parents got on, as if Hermione's parents understood the magical world better than she and Wallace's parents the muggle world. Wallace had always seemed far too old for her, though she had always loved older men and had never really dated anyone her age. It was during her last year at Hogwarts when their families had vacationed in Madrid that she saw him as something more than a amiable guy, she saw that he was intelligent and kind, and most importantly, he didn't expect her to be more than she was at present.

That was also the year after his wife had died at the hands of Voldemort. Things between she and Wallace changed significantly over a short time. He had confessed his adoration for her after Christmas dinner, under a full moon and naked stars. With his profession, he had given her a ring, a silver and gold ring with remarkable obsidian stone that held a deep red and black color. Her eyes had watered a bit and her mind instantly remembered their younger days when she taught him all about her favorite minerals and stones; how she had believed obsidian to be one of the most beautiful stones she had ever seen because of it's changing colors and strength against weathering and metamorphism.

With the ring, he had wanted to show her his feelings were strong and that he was committed to a future with her. Upon her return to school, she remembered her closest friends were skeptical of this new beau because they, neither of them, had ever heard of Wallace Stuart. They finished their exams and said their good-byes before she left them to go to Wallace and began their life together as she finished her papers and he continued his research with the historical aspects of wizardry.

She wanted to get to know his son better as well since she was to become his mother after all. In September, when she turned nineteen, they married at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore presiding. Harry and Ron were his witness, as well as his brother William. She had chosen Ginny Weasley ( the soon to be Ginevra Thomas), her Aunt Charlotte, and Minerva McGonagall as hers. Henry, Wallace's son was their sponsor. After their honeymoon, they returned to the Caithness and began a modest life filled with passion in their hearts and minds.

It was only five years later that Wallace suffered a terrible stroke and with the complications passed away before their sixth anniversary. It was then that Hermione and Henry moved to Hogsmeade, that only having been one month prior. She had decided that now her immediate schooling was finished, she wanted to continue Wallace's research and also maintain the small little bookstore she and Wallace had bought before his death. It was meant mostly for wizards, though a wandering muggle could've stumbled upon it if they had really looked for the building. She enjoyed her quiet solitude. With no relations within distance, Hermione felt for once in her life completely independent. Aside from the monthly visits from Harry and more frequently Ron, she hardly met or entertained many people and Henry would be starting his second year of school at Hogwart's school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Her bookstore afforded her the companionship she needed because many of her customers were very friendly and often came to check in on her especially when they learned that she had recently become a widow. Life for one Hermione Granger Stuart had become quite comfortable. Then of course it was all going to change.  
  
Chapter 1: The Neighbors  
  
Hermione and Wallace had searched for months for the house that Hermione now resided in with Henry. It had been a very warm, yet very rainy March day when they stumbled across the house after looking at one further down the road. She had noticed it's rather odd bricks and commented to Wallace that she believed the house would be perfect for them. He, oddly being the more sensible one, wanted to make sure the insides were as exciting and irregular as the outside. Much to his surprise, the inside of the house was exactly what they were looking for. It was spacious with four bedrooms, a study, two living rooms (The second was to be Hermione's office), two very nice bathrooms and a completed basement that seemed perfect for storage for their books and all of Henry's old toys and some new ones.

Wallace had wanted to make sure Hermione truly liked the house because he wanted her to be settled and because he knew stability was something she craved. When they signed for the house and then bought the bookstore, Wallace was certain Hermione would be taken care of and that she would be truly happy in their adventure. It was then that he had his stroke; he characteristically called Hermione from his office and told her he wouldn't be home for dinner, which was fairly often and then kept his promise. Of course he had no idea he wouldn't be going home ever again.

At first, preceding his death, Hermione waited to move into the house afraid that she would live in the home and then she realized it had been Wallace's plan for her to live in the house and run the bookstore. He had obviously wanted to keep her busy. She also had to take care of Henry and that became an everyday battle considering he had lost both of his parents before age twelve. Upon moving all of their belongings from Caithness, Hermione started organizing the house the way she wanted, but soon realized that she wouldn't be able to fill the house with the belongings she and Wallace had acquired, so she decided to turn her fourth bedroom into her office and leave plenty of guest space for when her friends and Henry's came to stay.

She had invited Harry and Ron to come to stay, but almost wished to remain somewhat alone; solitude had been a very good companion since her husband's death. She loved having Henry around to brighten her days when al she could think of was the lonliness of living without her husband. She would miss Henry's loud singing in the showers at breakfast when he went back to school, but she knew he would find comfort among his friends.

After a week or so at number 10 Sedna Station, Hermione decided it was time to visit her neighbors, though she only had two and both were in a gross distance from her house. It was still time to get acquainted, even if the people were complete codgers for not welcoming her in the first place. She set out that morning with a basket of goodies she had baked and went to the first very large and foreboding manor and knocked lightly on the over-sized front door. Seconds later, a small elf came to the door and Hermione realized that wizards must live in the home to have an elf.

"Gooday, Miss, is you wishing to see my master." The tiny elf said, holding its head up high.

"I live at number ten and I wanted to let your, Master, know that I had moved in and was renovating the book store on Gentry Corner." The little elf smiled at Hermione and stepped back to let her in. The house was immaculate and immediately in her view were fine paintings and a rather large, black-carpeted staircase that seemed to go on for ages.

"Wait here, Miss, I will be getting my master." The elf replied bowing slightly towards Hermione and walked quickly away from the room. As she stood and waited, she noticed a painting that struck her immediately, it was a Vermeer, though not one that she had seen before and she had seen all of them, or so she believed.

The lighting and situation were so obviously Vermeer that she had to take several glances just to make sure she wasn't seeing something that wasn't apparent. While lost in thought, the resident of the home studied the young woman. ' In her early twenties, light brown hair, very short' he thought to himself before tearing her away from the painting. He cleared his thought and moved a bit of hair from his face before reaching out to tap her shoulder.

"A Vermeer from his late life." The resident said, his voice bringing memories of old to Hermione's mind.

"I do not recall this painting in his collection, how did you come by it, Sir?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the painting.

"An heirloom, I suppose. It's always been here and I am rather fond of it now." She could remember his voice so clearly in her mind and yet she couldn't place it immediately and that made her afraid to face him. Gryffindor courage be damned.

"I only ask because I have several of his paintings myself and have never heard of or seen this one." She stepped forward slightly and let her eyes travel the young man and woman sitting together at the table by the window.

"It's called, "The Man and His Wife", he painted it his last year of life, but that is all I know of it." Hermione put her hands at her side and turned to face the man who would be her neighbor and then completely knew the voice from her adolescence. It was Severus Snape her former potions professor.

"Perhaps I should stop dawdling and get to the point of my being here. I moved into number 10 recently and wanted to acquaint myself with the people in this neighborhood." She met his eyes and saw something she wasn't expecting. The weariness she had remembered was disappearing and the mouth that once could only seem to sneer was pleasant with a small grin.

"Yes, I believe your husband came by previously to make sure I wasn't offended by the hedges he wanted to remove." Severus replied.

"I will be getting to those hedges soon. The rooms seem to be getting settled and the outside will have my attention soon enough." She fidgeted with her wedding band, now on her right hand in response to her mourning. It wasn't as if this man, who could've cared less about her as a child, would know that Wallace had died.

"Well, I should be getting back home. I do hope you will come to the bookstore. It will be ready in a week and we will be having some kind of bakery treats and of course tea." She turned back to the painting, wanted to take it in slowly and draw it herself as soon as she returned home.

"Thank you for your visit, Madam Stuart." "I would prefer it if you called me Hermione, as we are neighbors and old acquaintances." She walked as swiftly as she could and headed directly for his door. The man had changed in the years she had been away from school, but in her mind, Severus Snape would always be her snarky potions professor who ridiculed her and rejected her from his apprenticeship. Of course, Wallace wouldn't have known that this man, who he had asked about the hedges, was her former professor. He hadn't been at their wedding because he had left the school after her seventh year so he wouldn't teach Henry either. Wallace couldn't have known.

That night, after starting with the hedge and accomplishing next to nothing, Hermione settled into books of her family history; especially those concerning her mother's family, as those were the ones that connected her to Vermeer. She had transcripts of his selling's and prints of all of his paintings, yet could not find, The Man and his Wife.

She set all of her work aside and moved into her very empty bedroom. Upon scanning the room, she saw only a king-sized bed, a chair with two pillows in it, and a very solemn mirror. A bedroom should be a sanctuary, but Hermione felt anything but safe or guarded by her room. Without crookshanks or Wallace, the room seemed completely empty. With that, she resolved to go to Diagon Alley and purchase a new familiar. That next morning, with Henry at her side, Hermione apparated to Diagon Alley. Henry had been excited to go to Diagon Alley, as he hadn't been able to do many pleasurable things with getting the bookstore ready.

"We should get a cat, Mum. Crookshanks was fun and I have missed him." Hermione smiled at the blonde boy and ruffled his hair. It was sad that he was almost her height. He would grow to be very tall like Wallace; after all he already resembled him so closely that Hermione had to blink on several occasions.

"We'll look for a cat, Henry, but no cat will ever replace Crookshanks. Besides, I kind of wanted to buy you something to take back to Hogwarts. Dad was so busy last year that we didn't get to but you anything." She noted the saddened look in Henry's eyes when she mentioned Wallace, but understood that losing a parent was something you couldn't get over in years, little alone a month. She understood his pain; after all she had lost her father as well.

"Thanks Mum that would be really great." They walked in silence through Diagon Alley until they reached Eeylop's Owl Emporium where she hoped Henry would chose an owl so that they could correspond easily.


	2. The Bookstore

Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor . and thanks to Sain Nikki for my first review on this story!!!!  
  
Chapter 2: The Bookstore  
  
"Come on, Hermione, you can't really believe that no one will buy books from your bookstore. It's been here since the 1600's and it's quite popular. Everyone comes here for book supplies while they attend school.." Ron said buttering a piece of bread and smashing it in his mouth.

"I just can't afford not to sell books. Wallace's papers will be finished soon and I will have those, but without the bookstore, I will have to move again. I can't make Henry move again."

"I couldn't imagine living in this big old house by myself anyway." Ron added, buttering another piece of toast.

"It's nothing compared to Grimmauld place and you and Harry live there."

"With Susan and Veronica. I mean, sometimes that house isn't big enough."

"How is Veronica doing? Harry owled and said that she was ill."

"She's well enough. I feel like her permanent nanny sometimes with Susan and Harry both at the ministry."

"You know you're not well enough to go back yet Ron." She eyed him, noticing his swollen eyes and slumped shoulders.

"It was five years ago and yet I still can't walk and still can't hold things properly." She had an image of Ron being hit four times with the Cruciatus curse, and then falling. The stress had taken most of his nerves and feeling in his legs and hands.

"Your left hand seems better." She said, hoping to help him feel better.

"Yes and my left big toe can do tricks now, see, it sits there like I've told it to." He laughed a bit, but Hermione could tell that he wasn't joking.

"Veronica loves you Ron and if you become her Nanny, at least Susan and Harry will have someone to blame when she turns out to be just like you and Harry anyway." He laughed at that and this time she was sure he was joking. As she sat and watched him eat, her stomach began to turn slightly, but settled itself as she stood to pour another coup of tea.

"Are you feeling alright, Hermione?" Ron asked, noticing her grimace.

"A little under the weather. Since Wallace's death, it seems like I just can't shake this cold. It seems to be getting better, though."

"It will." He rested his hand on hers lightly and smiled a truly wonderful Weasley smile into her pleading eyes.

"Let's go then and meet failure." She helped him back into his wizard wheelchair that like a broom rather had a mind of it's own and they were off to the bookstore.

"Your dress is lovely and that alone will make men want to shop at your store."

"Not if all the men in Hogsmeade are devoted to men instead of women as I fear they are." She giggled and walked swiftly to keep up with him. The bookstore had been open for a week and was doing okay, but she felt that soon enough people wouldn't need or want to shop at the store. She was afraid of the failure that came with trying to please everyone.

"Look, Hermione there are five people waiting at the door." She nodded politely towards the group and unlocked the door, noticing that the order for schoolbooks had come in by floo and was sitting directly in the middle of the show floor.

She let Ron go through the door and then quickly moved the books closer to the register to allow customers room to walk. The first hour or so she spent time setting out the schoolbooks and wondering if she would have any little witches or wizards come into her store for books. Most of them purchased them in Diagon Alley.

"Do you have books on trains, Miss?" She heard behind her from a tiny boy who looked no more than five.

"Yes, I do. I have a great one on a train called the Hogwarts express. Have you ever heard of it? No, well it is a magical train that takes little witches and wizards to school. Would you like to look at the pictures?" She handed the book to the boy and watched, as he seemed to dive right into the pictures. She had always loved that moment when a child discovered a book.

"Atticus, we are here to buy books for your brother, not books on trains." She heard from behind her and turned to face the man who had spoken.

"He can have the book if he likes my son doesn't read it any longer." Hermione replied recognizing her patron as Severus Snape.

"Can I really?"

"Yes, young Sir, you may and it would probably help your...umm..."

"Uncle."

"Uncle. If you read it over here with at the chairs so he can finish shopping." She watched as the little boy walked to the table keeping one eye on his Uncle and the other on his book.

"She has a kneazle, uncle." Atticus said, noticing the black kitten in the window of the store.

"Her name is Austen. We just bought her last week." Hermione said nonchalantly looking between the wide-eyed boy so obviously related to Severus Snape and the man himself.

"Yes, well, thank you, Madam."

"I find sometimes that children are more easily occupied at a book store when they have a book."

"I need to purchase the required texts for a second year at Hogwarts."

"I just received them this morning, Professor."

"I am no longer a professor, Madam, and do not wish to be titled as such."

"Old habit, Sir. Let's see most of them are the same aside from the potions texts and the new texts for arithmancy. I see they want to start at level three now for muggle studies, how interesting." She grabbed all of the books and packaged them for her former professor, wanting nothing more than to have him sufficiently satisfied.

"Thank you, Madam Stuart." He said, giving her the galleons and taking the books.

"It's Hermione, Sir." He nodded in understanding and walked over to the table where Atticus was looking through his book.

"It has a funny name in the front, Uncle. It says Wallace."

"That was my husbands name, Atticus, before he died. That was his book and I know that he would love it if you took it home with you. Henry enjoyed it a lot when he was little, but since he gets to ride the train now, he thinks he's grown out of it." The little boy seemed solemn as he looked towards Hermione. Severus eyed her cautiously, learning that her husband had past. He felt a tiny bit remorseful remembering the conversation prior where he had mentioned him and the hedges.

"My Mum and Dad died." With that, Hermione stopped and kneeled in front of the little boy.

"Then I am sure they would love for you to read and enjoy a book, darling." Hermione handed him a lollipop as well and watched as Severus shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

"Bye, little one." She said to Atticus as he left.

" Good afternoon, Master Snape." He nodded curtly and took Atticus's hand before exiting the store.

"Was that Professor Snape?" Ron asked.

"Yes, didn't I tell you he was my neighbour?" Hermione giggled a bit and rolled out the rest of the books around the store completely happy for making a child enjoy something that she enjoyed and also for learning something so important about her former professor.


	3. Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor.  
  
Chapter 3: Surprise

"Henry, we must get going or we won't make the train!" Hermione yelled up the broad stairs towards her stepson's room. She heard shuffling and then a light huff. He was down the steps shortly and with his large trunk with Henry's initials engraved in Olde English writing on the top of the trunk, beaming towards the ceiling in golden colours.

She had picked his trunk out from the wood carvers just one year before and had been delighted to find one so like her old one that she was able to relive some memories long forgotten. "Is Micah in her cage?" Hermione asked as Henry walked past her to the breakfast table.

"Yes, I made sure she had water and treats as well, Mum, so don't ask. I do know how to take care of an owl. You gave me that book when I was seven." Henry smiled towards his Mum and was glad that she looked upset at his leaving. He had grown quite close to her throughout her marriage to his Dad was sad to be leaving her knowing that this Christmas, when he returned, there would be no father to greet him.

"Let's go then, before the train takes off and leaves you here." Hermione laughed, ruffling his blonde hair transfiguring his trunk into a small box. Once at King's Cross, Hermione felt the first pains of his leaving.

Henry had grown so much over the summer and made Hermione feel as though she was letting go of a young man instead of the boy Henry had always been. She knew Ron would visit and eventually Harry, Susan, and Veronica would drop by, but she wouldn't have Henry around to make her laugh or remind her of Wallace.

"Oy, Michael, save me a seat!" Henry yelled towards a rather happy looking boy who stood close to a group of children.

"Be quick about it, Henry, or we'll leave without you." The Michael boy called out towards Henry and Hermione.

"Well, you don't have to hug me if it will embarrass you, but at least shake my hand." Hermione offered, looking towards the boy and feeling a little awkward, as she hadn't said goodbye to him before by herself.

"Don't be silly, Mum, you know I couldn't leave without hugging you." Henry said, wrapping his arms around Hermione's shoulders. He was much too tall for a twelve year old.

"I love you, Henry. Write me when you can and come home when you want to over break."

"I love you too, Mum. And I'll be home for Christmas." She waved as he walked towards the brilliant red engine and sighed softly knowing she wouldn't be seeing him for another three months at least.

As she turned away from the train, she caught a familiar face before her, but turned quickly, caught in her emotions. She didn't want anyone to see her so vulnerable and alone, so naked to everyone's prying eyes.

"My nephew and your son have become friends I gather." Severus Snape said as she walked past him trying to ignore his presence at the terminal.

"Yes, apparently so."

"Henry will find comfort in Michael. They have both lost their parents recently and that has made them both exposed." Severus continued as if she hadn't spoken a word.

"Where is Atticus this morning?"

"He and Harrison are at the manor."

"Harrison?"

"My other and youngest nephew."

"Is he in school?"

"Yes and no. I am tutoring the young boys this year."

"Is he five?"

"No, three, he is in the pre-schooling." His expression hadn't changed from his times as her professor. She wondered if he even worried about his nephew who was suddenly further away then before.

"Henry knows that he can rely on his friends and professors if he feels the need to talk. I fear my own selfish behaviour has caused a rift or two where we could have healed."

"He will learn as most children his age have in the past." Severus replied with all of the comfort he could offer her.

"Well, I must be going, the bookstore must be in shambles without me." She laughed weakly and turned slightly from the man before her to walk towards her apparition point.

"Do feel free to trim those hedges anytime, Madame." She could distinctly hear the sarcasm in his voice, but nodded politely and walked further down. As she edged to the spot where she could apparate safely, she stopped suddenly as a brief wave of nausea hit her completely, head to toe. As she stood, she stumbled slightly against the harsh concrete.

Once able to stand without feeling an intense need to either use the restroom or vomit, she resumed her mission and apparated to the bookstore.

"Why don't you just go home and rest, Hermione, you look dreadful." Ron said after watching Hermione work half-heartedly for an hour or so. She removed the damp cloth from her head and walked towards the register.

"Yes, I will go home early today." She bent slightly and kissed Ron's cheek before grabbing her purse and leaving her store. She would have to hire someone to work extra for times when she needed to leave early. On her way home, she stopped in at a muggle drug store to gather some home remedy type goods and also one very specific item that would answer several questions at once.

"Thank you, Madame." The clerk said as she left the store with a large bag of muggle junk food and supplies. Once home she went directly to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. Her stomach felt somewhat better, but knew anxiety was taking over.

"How long does this take?" She cried out in frustration while looking at the directions for the home pregnancy test she had acquired at the general store. She was almost certain it would be positive. She and Wallace had been trying for over a year and she really hadn't thought about it much since he had died. She remembered so clearly the last time they had made love. It was actually two weeks before Wallace died and the most romantic experience she'd ever had.

If a child was to be born of that night, than she was extremely pleased. She had always wanted children and knew that Wallace would be happy to know that something of their life together had come to be, if it was positive.

"Come on you stupid thing." She yelled looking intently at the stick wondering if she had wasted her money on something that she could've done herself by casting a spell. She reminded herself that if she was pregnant, than she didn't want to know the sex of the baby and using said spell would confirm her pregnancy and tell her the sex of the baby.

As she thought, she saw two very bright, very blue lines appear on the little strip and instantly, she felt relief that she was finally pregnant, if a little sad that Wallace would never know his little son or daughter. She would have to make an appointment to see a mediwitch and also write to Henry to let him know of his impending older brother status.

She decided first to contact a mediwitch and mail Henry a letter later. The next morning, Hermione got up as usual, not feeling particularly under the weather or drained. She wondered if any of the first time mothers experienced mid-afternoon sickness instead of morning sickness. She had made an appointment for one o'clock, but wished she'd made it earlier as she was so excited that she could barely notice

Henry wasn't singing in the shower and Micah wasn't hooting to be let out. She fed her own new kitten a bowl of milk and then drank the rest of her tea. Her walk to the bookstore was dreary as the morning fog was religiously heavy and upsetting. She felt every need to shout to the world her great news, but then remembered her husband wouldn't ever see his new child or know it's sweet face.

Suddenly, she stopped about a block from the bookstore and began crying as if he had just died. Wallace's eyes were staring directly into hers in memory and she couldn't help but wonder if he could see her or know that she was thinking of him that morning. In instinct, she pulled out the handkerchief her mother had knitted for her as a child and wiped her eyes. With each tear, she knew there would be roughly seven more months of this wondering and then the lifetime of the child to wonder about Wallace and his feelings or lack-there-of.

A final sigh escaped her lips and she headed for the store once more with fervour. She mourned her husband dearly, but knew that the great powers that be were sending her relief. Relief from Wallace's death and from Henry's return to school.

"Morning, Ron." Hermione said as she entered the store at half past eight. She rounded the small counter and set her bag underneath the counter.

"You seem to be feeling better. Get some rest last night?" Ron asked, wheeling around and watching her as she finished her morning routine.

"Yes and no. I feel better but I didn't get very much rest last night. I have to see a mediwitch this afternoon at one. I think it's time I put an advertisement for some temporary help."

"Why is that?" Ron asked looking towards her with one eyebrow cocked.

"I can afford it and sometimes we both need a break. The kids are in school again and I would like to be able to leave when I need to work at the house without putting so much work on you. It's such a nice service to have you here as it is, I don't want to push you away." Hermione poured herself a second glass of tea and drank one sip.

"You shouldn't drink so much tea, Hermione."

"Why? I can drink as much tea as I like."

"Too much caffeine. No wonder you never sleep." She laughed a bit and smiled towards him, wondering if he was sleeping at all anymore.

"You're one to talk, Mr. Weasley." They carried on for another thirty minutes and opened the door to let in fresh air. Hermione noted that the fog had lifted and the air seemed to dry up a bit. She put a sign up on the door indicating they needed part time help and then counted down the hours until she was to leave for her appointment. It was at twelve o'clock in the afternoon when someone finally came in to ask about the sign on the door.

The woman was of medium height and light hair. She seemed rather young and rather uncomfortable at first.

"Come with me to the office and we can talk, Miss..." "Jordan." The young woman replied, still looking ill at ease with Hermione.

"My name is Hermione Stuart and the man out there is Ron Weasley. We both prefer to be called by our given names. Basically, we need someone to help with shipments and also the regular cleaning and dusting of the store. I will be unavailable for a while in the near future and will need someone to fulfil my duties of the book keeping and also ordering. Why did you stop in today?"

"I love bookstores. I've never been to this one, but it looks lovely. I was walking down Gentry when I saw the sign and decided it was exactly what I was looking for. I need to raise a little money, but mostly I just want time away from home." Hermione sympathized with the girl, noticing her dark eyes darting from her own face towards the pictures on the mantle behind her.

"Are you available both mornings and afternoons? I only ask because sometimes I would need you either times."

"Yes, I can be here whenever you need me. I live close by, so the distance is very short if you needed me in an emergency."

"I live on Sedna Station, at number 10." Hermione smiled at the girl, noticing she had relaxed somewhat and handed her some forms.

"Once you fill these out, we can talk about your hourly rate and also work shifts and the like. I do need to get to an appointment around one, so you can fill these out here or at your home. Once I review them and unless you object, I will probably need you starting on Wednesday."

"That would be fine, Madame Stuart."

"I never caught your first name." Hermione said as they both stood.

"Sarah, but most people call me Sallie with the exception of my Uncle." Sallie smiled at Hermione and put the forms in her large bag. They exited the office together before leaving the store.

"She seems nice." Ron said as Hermione reached for her own rather large bag.

"Yes, she does."

"Well, see you in a bit. Everything's good here, so don't worry, just get well." Ron watched her walk out of the store, hoping she hadn't caught the bug that was travelling around the town. When she reached the end of the street she apparated to Osgood's a local hospital for the wizard or witch in need of medical assistance, but not in need of any terminal medical treatment. She turned down a long hallway as she entered the hospital and then found her floor.

"Sign in here, Miss, and we'll call your name." Hermione signed her name on the form and instantly saw a little checkmark to indicate that she had an appointment. It was only ten minutes later that she heard a booming voice above her head.

"Hermione Stuart, please come to room eleven." Obediently she stood and walked down a hall towards room eleven.

"Good afternoon, Madame Stuart. I am Melissa Hughes. So, you think that you might be pregnant, well we'll find out in just a sec. If you don't want to know the sex of the baby, turn away from the light or else you'll know immediately. Now, hold still, this won't hurt a bit." Hermione obeyed the mediwitch and turned her head, not wanting to know her babies sex.

"Definitely pregnant and quite far along considering you're just now coming to see us. Three months, dearie. "

Hermione turned towards the mediwitch and smiled a smile that she knew emanated all of her joy and happiness. She couldn't quite remember the month of late May and what exactly she had been doing, but obviously she and Wallace had been trying that month.

"You are lucky you missed all that morning sickness, Madame Stuart. Some first time mothers decide not to be second time mothers because of all the sickness. So, you're looking towards a March baby." Hermione took the form the mediwitch gave her and stood.

"You'll need this potion once a day to ensure the health of your baby and you'll need to visit me once a month until the seventh month and then twice a month after that. I hope you are looking forward to this adventure, Madame, because it only gets better from here."

Before leaving, Hermione read the directions for the potion and stuffed the papers in her bag. She would write Henry that night and perhaps call upon her good neighbour to see about obtaining some ingredients for her potion.


	4. Happy Halloween

Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor. And thank you to xXSakkaiXx for my 3rd review... sorry if the SJ character seemed that obvious...she'll be important later  
  
Chapter 4:happy Halloween

Halloween came quickly for Hermione who was now almost four months pregnant and more comfortable with her body. She had learned to successfully brew her own hormone and vitamin potion to make sure her little son or daughter grew and developed as it should.

Ron had taken the news of the new addition very well and had in fact seemed more determined to recover from his paralysis than ever. Harry and Susan were also extremely supportive, though Harry seemed worried that she would become quite lonely. He feared that she would be alone for the birth and that made him ask Ron to move in with Hermione for the remainder of her pregnancy and longer if need be.

Sallie had started that Wednesday and had continued working nicely with she and Ron. Hermione had discovered that Sallie was quite talkative if she was on the right subject. She had also noticed that Sallie never went anywhere on her way home or to work. She always walked the same way, her head down her feet trotting at the cobblestone road as if it was her last mile. Hermione had reached out to the girl, but knew that sometimes only time could heal certain wounds and Hermione was afraid of learning what could cause the young woman to be so distraught.

"Sallie, could you grab that last box of the new editions, I would hate to not have this done early enough to enjoy the party." Sallie walked slowly towards the counter and grabbed the last box of the new editions of Hogwarts; A History and walked with them to Hermione. It wasn't often that Sallie seemed upset, but that entire day she had seemed a little down as if something out of the ordinary had sparked her sadness.

"Thanks, dear."

"You're welcome. Do you mind if I stop by my house first before I come to the party? I need to grab some things." Hermione nodded in response and stepped off of the ladder.

"Well, that's all. I'll see you a little later, Sallie. Please do come, we would really enjoy having you." Hermione took the young woman's hand in hers and smiled at her, knowing that she needed interaction with more than her family.

"I'll be there, I promise." Hermione watched as Sallie walked out the door, her dark hair tied tightly in a bun.

"Let's go Ron, Harry's probably destroyed the place by now." Ron and Hermione walked out the door and headed towards her house where Ron had taken residence in the third bedroom. Harry was pleased with his idea of Ron moving in with Hermione as she never walked to or from work alone.

"Did you invite the neighbours?" Ron asked looking towards Severus Snape's house.

"Of course." Hermione smiled and unlocked the back door to her house.

"I need a shower, quickly, before I rot. Be back down in a sec." Hermione jogged up the stairs and laid out her emerald dress that she wouldn't be able to wear in another month and turned the water in her shower on a mild warm. The water felt nice on her skin as the relaxed into the stream. It seemed as though she hadn't showered in years, yet she knew she had showered just that morning.

Before putting on the dress, she sprayed a bit of perfume on her neck, stomach, in the crease of her legs and on her wrists.

"Hermione, Lupin and Tonks are here." She heard Harry call from the bottom of the stairs. She put on her flat shoes and walked slowly down the stairs towards her den and prepared herself to see the man she had once crushed on in her third year.

"You look lovely, Hermione." Remus Lupin, former DADA professor stated as she entered the room.

"You're just flattering a soon to be overweight, pregnant and very hormonal woman." She laughed as she spoke knowing that all of the women in the room aside from Tonks and Ginny had experienced pregnancy.

"Did you find the saucers, Harry?" Hermione asked snaking an arm around his shoulder.

"Yes, they were right on the shelf that said, 'saucers'. I also put out the candles you wanted and the fresh linens." Hermione kissed his cheek lightly and walked over towards Ginny Weasley and her new beau, who Hermione didn't quite recognize.

"How is Henry taking the news about the little one, Hermione?" Ginny asked after she took her drink from Dean's hand.

"Quite good. He always wanted a brother or sister, but thought he might never have one. When Valerie died, he was sure he would be alone with his Dad forever and then I came into the picture and then he had high hopes. When Wallace died, Henry tried to make a lot of friends because he knew he would never have a sibling. But now, well, he writes me every week asking how everything is going and when he will be able to learn about the sex. I keep telling him he won't know until the baby is born." Ginny laughed and looked off towards Ron who was quietly sitting with Tonks talking about quidditch. Before Hermione could greet Susan properly, there was a knock at the door.

"Hold on, let me get that, it must be Neville." Hermione walked quickly, well as quickly as she could, to the door. To her surprise, it was Severus Snape.

"Good evening, Madame." He said, entering the room. "Good evening, Master Snape and Atticus." Hermione waved at the little boy trying to hide at his uncle's legs.

"Atticus don't be rude, say hello to Madame Stuart."

"Happy Halloween, Hermione." Atticus said, holding his hand out to give her the picture he had drawn. It was a large train with a bright green engine that looked more like a stapler with steam than a train, but she would never say that to him.

"How lovely, Atticus." Hermione went to her kitchen to hang the picture on her refrigerator and then returned to the den where Severus and Atticus were meeting and greeting, that is to say Atticus was talking and Severus was stalking around the room as he always did.

"Fred and George should be by soon. Colin and Dennis are working late for them tonight. Quite a busy night, Halloween." Hermione laughed thinking back to her fifth year and their many inventions.

"Atticus, would you like to stir the pumpkin juice for me?" He smiled, but looked to hisUncle first.

"You may." With that Atticus walked swiftly towards Hermione, his dark hair flopping a bit like Harry's on his head.

"Where is your little brother tonight?" Hermione asked.

"I don't have a little brother." He replied.

"Isn't Harrison your little brother?" Hermione asked as Atticus stirred the pumpkin juice.

"No, he is my nephew." She giggled and watched his face, so stern and severe exactly like his uncles.

"He is coming with his mother." Atticus added. With that, Hermione heard a knock at the door and went to greet her new partygoers.

"Sallie, I am so glad you could make it." Hermione held the door open for the young woman and almost closed it when she saw a little boy staring back at her, blue eyes full of excitement.

"This is my son, Harrison." Sallie said, picking the little boy up and brushing his blonde hair from his face. He looked nothing like Sallie, but was beautiful nonetheless.

"Well, hello Harrison. I am Hermione and we have lots of goodies just for you." Hermione took the small boy from Sallie's arms and walked with him towards the kitchen where Atticus was still faithfully stirring the pumpkin juice.

"Hey there, Harrison." Atticus said, releasing the ladle from his hand and stepping down from the stool.

"Thank you, Atticus, there are some hats and crackers on the mantle, will you hand them out for me?" Hermione pointed towards the mantle and watched as Atticus walked towards them.

"Sallie, he's just beautiful, why didn't you tell me you had a son?"

"I was asked not to." Sallie replied, her eyes darting towards the den.

"Do you live with Severus Snape?"

"He is my Uncle as well. When our parents died, I mean mine, Michael's and Atticus', we moved in with him. That was three years ago. I was seven months pregnant with Harrison and Uncle didn't know until they died. He was very hurt that I never told him, but then he understood once the truth was revealed." Hermione handed Harrison a cracker and watched as he pulled the end and two very large balloons exploded from the other end.

"Yes, well those were tough times I am sure."

"His father died with my parents at Hogwarts." Hermione thought about this with much intensity. She wondered if she could discover his father without Sallie having to actually say the words.

"Were you to be married?" "

We were married, we just never told anyone. For privacy, we chose a last name of the place where we were married." Hermione wiped the bit of dust off Harrison's mouth and set him down on the floor so he could walk about.

"We should get to the party before your Uncle hunts me down and wonders what I've done with you two." With a half-smile, Sallie followed Hermione out into the den and waited for her Uncle to show his anger as she wasn't supposed to be present at the party that night.

"Where did you get that dress, hermione, it's colour is so unique?" Tonks asked as Hermione brought out the rest of the food.

"In Egypt last summer. Some little store in Cairo....I can't remember the name now, but my tag is just upstairs. I figured I better wear it now while I still can." Hermione brushed her hair from her shoulders and patted Ron's arm as the friends she had acquired over the years talked of their lives. She wondered how many of them realized that they hadn't really been together for almost two years.

It was her first holiday without Wallace and aside from her hormones raging, she felt okay. About and hour or so later, though, she was feeling tired and walked out onto her terrace where she heard a light bickering from around her hedges (she still hadn't gotten around to trimming them).

"I asked you not to bring him here, Sarah, many people do not know that he exists."

"He is my son, Uncle, and these people do not care whose child he is or whether his father might have been a follower of the Dark Lord. Hermione is so caring and honest and I couldn't lie to her any longer."

"You shouldn't have brought him, Sarah. These people are accepting, yes, but they still don't know he is Malfoy's heir and that alone can clear even the most polite room."

"Not everyone is like you, Uncle. He is my child, I love him and if you don't want us in your home anymore, we will find another residence.They have accepted you, wny wouldn't they accept Harrison?" With that, Hermione watched Sallie hold a sleeping Harrison in her arms and walk back into the den, her yes red with regret.

"She has your determination, you know." Hermione said, walking behind her former professor, wondering is she should have spoken at all.

"Yes, unfortunately."

"She is quite welcome in my home, as always, Sir. As well as her son. Draco and I were never the greatest mates, but we understood our places in the order and even though many don't understand his sacrifice, I do." She looked up to him, her eyes searching for some emotion aside from his usual sarcasm and denial.

"Yes, well, that is exactly right, these people here don't know that he chose a separate path from his father. They only remember the boy he was and not the man he became." Severus stood, his arms folded across his chest and waited for more ramblings on Hermione's relationship with the younger Malfoy. Instead, he received silence.

She walked closer to the ledge and looked out over the small pond. That was the main reason she had wanted this particular house. She loved the pond and wanted Henry to have that piece of home as their house in the Caithness had a small pond as well. As she stood there, her arms felt chill. She was alone on Halloween, one of her favourite holidays. Obviously and literally she wasn't alone, but in her heart she had never been more alone.

"You will catch a cold, Madame Stuart, if you remain in this weather for much longer." Severus said, watching her tremble in the moonlight. He hadn't been to her bookstore since he had bought his nephews books. It was odd trying to think of her as an adult because he could normally only think of her as the frizzy-haired, buck-toothed, know-it-all from his days as a professor.

"You can't catch a cold from being in the cold, Professor. Sorry, you don't like being called that, old habit." She bit her lip and felt a strong need to walk directly to the pub and buy a large order of fish and chips.

"You still shouldn't be in this weather, the dampness will destroy your hair style."He said in a voice she recognized so very well. She snorted at his comment and thought of her unruly main.

"Yes, well, I doubt anything can manage to make it worse." She turned to him and noted that he was wearing dark trousers and a light mahogany shirt. She walked slowly past him and smelled the familiar scent of lavender and cedar.

"I hope you have a good evening, Sir, as your young nephew seems to have made two new friends of Messrs Fred and George Weasley." Hermione passed him and felt a small jump from the little person in her tummy. She stopped suddenly and waited for it to happen again. Severus followed her in, wondering she if was all right.

"Hermione, did you see the little muggles that were at the door. They were dressed in little costumes pretending to be wizards and ghosts." Ginny said, closing the door and searching Hermione's face for a sign of the emotion that was written all over her body.

"No I didn't see them, sorry." Hermione turned from Ginny and walked towards her steps to the top floor. Hermione waved off Ron's attempts to ask her why she was looking as though something had happened. She ran quietly up the steps and into her bathroom. As though she had no legs to carry her one step further, she collapsed on the floor if the bathroom and wept. It was as though she hadn't cried for Wallace's death the first time. Somehow in her mind, she hadn't thought completely about the absence of him in every aspect of her life. At night when she lay in her bed, she thought about his absent body; The lump of man that kept her warm on the coldest nights and comforted when she continued her nightmares.

It was as though she had just remembered that he was gone; that she would never kiss the lips of the man that had understood it all. All of her idiosyncrasies and compulsions. He understood her need to always please people and to be the best in everything. And he was gone...

"Hermione, is everything alright?" She heard Ginny call from her bedroom.

"The baby kicked while I was on the terrace." Hermione replied wiping her eyes on a dull and stained handkerchief with Wallace's initials on the hem.

"Why are you crying then?" Ginny asked, having never been pregnant herself, yet feeling as though it should be a happy time when a baby responds to it's environment.

"I was overwhelmed." Hermione replied.

"Because Wallace won't ever know the baby." Ginny stated, helping Hermione clean her face.

"It's not as though I haven't thought of it before. I told myself when I first found out that he or she would never know their father. I mean, I told myself that a hundred times, and downstairs I finally heard it for the first time." Ginny hugged her tightly and rubbed her back in circles, trying to understand what it must feel like to be pregnant and alone.

"Your child will know it's father, hermione, and you will be able to explain it all. Henry will be a wonderful big brother and the extended family of this child will be more supportive than any other family I can imagine." Hermione laughed a bit thinking of her adolescence and how the Weasley family had practically adopted her.

"Thank you Ginny. Sometimes I just can't stop crying when I think about him. Sometimes I wish I could find out something completely horrible about him and then hate him forever, but then I remember he was perfect in every way."

"You will find someone again, Hermione, and they will be perfectly equal in your eyes." Hermione wiped her eyes one last time and straightened her hair out against her neck.

"Thank you, Ginny, even if it isn't true." Hermione and Ginny walked back down the stairs. Hermione felt like slightly uncomfortable knowing she had ignored half of her guests for more than three quarters of the party. It wasn't as though most of them would think she was trying to be rude on purpose, she just knew someone would comment on her leaving so abruptly.

"We found the rest of the crackers, Ron." Ginny said as they descended from the stairs, Hermoine silently thanked Ginny for her quick thinking and they continued serving.

"How is Henry doing with quidditch?" Tonks asked Hermione as she refilled her drink.

"He seems to like it quite a bit, but sometimes I think he just plays because his father did.He has been practicing a lot, so I hope he makes the team this year."

"Wallace played quidditch?" Ron asked, looking sceptically towards Hermione.

"He played with his cousins for a minor team. I simply meant that Wallace was successful with quidditch and I believe Henry feels he must be as well."

"Why didn't Wallace go to Hogwarts? I mean his family lived about thirty or so miles from the school." Tonks asked.

"I believe his father wanted to teach him himself. His sisters went to Beauxbatons." Tonks chuckled and then walked back to Remus Lupin by the front windows. Hermione noticed that Remus seemed a little down as well. The night seemed to be successful as the patrons of her party all mingled as though they regularly ran in the same circles socially. She even noted that Severus Snape had commented on the niceness of meeting with former colleagues, even if Remus and Tonks were the only ones.

As people began to head home, as there was a full day of work ahead for most of them, she politely bid them goodnight, even though she honestly craved her solitude from them.

"Goodnight, Hermione, see you in the morning." Sallie said as she and Harrison left the landing.

"Yes, and be careful, it's supposed to storm tonight." Hermione said as they walked a little up the road. She knew Severus and Atticus would be leaving soon as well, so she left the door open a bit. The light breeze was comforting. It was times as these that she wished she still had her mother's old hammock. It was perfect during stormy weather.

"Goodnight, Hermione. I hope I can see the bookstore again soon." Atticus Snape said as he walked past her to the sidewalk.

"Good evening, Madame Stuart, thank you for the invitation." Hermione extended her hand in acceptance of his handshake, but blushed slightly as he bent and kissed it.

"Thank you, Sir."

"You may call me Severus, Madame Stuart, as we are no longer student and professor. You make me feel old and settled when you continuously call me sir." She slowly retreated her hand and smelled the lovely smell of cedar ,a smell she'd recognized on him since her first year at Hogwarts.

"Yes, then, Severus, thank you for coming, it was nice to talk with you."The sound of his name over her lips felt extremely foreign. She maintained her blush, thinking of anyone else who could have seen him kiss her hand as if she was a queen.

"Well, yes, thank you." He turned from her and walked towards his own home but a few strides from hers.

"Your dress is lovely." She thought she heard him whisper, but removed the thought from her mind and closed the door. Ron and Harry were putting the dishes away as she entered the kitchen. Somehow, the depression that she had felt that evening was dissipating into the fondness of the thoughts of Wallace and everything that had made their life together obsolete.

"Were you upset earlier, Hermione?" Harry asked, his green eyes searching her almond eyes for answers to his concerns.

"Yes, I was. I felt the baby kick and it made me think of Wallace and his death."

"Why didn't you say something to us, Hermione? That is why we are here, to make sure everything is going smoothly with the baby and you." Harry continued to stare into her eyes, pleading with her not to let him down.

"It's just that so much has changed since his death. I remember the night before he died knowing that next day something was going to be different. I held him so tight that night and pleaded with him not to go to work. I was so weak that morning. I should've known then I was pregnant, but I wasn't looking for the signs and Wallace was so irritable. He asked me not to keep him from work that morning as he knew it was an important day. I just wanted him to stay home." Hermione paused and her arms fell to her sides in protest of her emotions.

"He didn't even kiss me goodbye. He waved  
from the street corner as if I was neighbour and not his wife. When he called at lunchtime and said he wouldn't be home, I was sure he was still angry with me for trying to get him to stay home. Around four o'clock, I received the largest bunch of lilies I've ever seen. The little card said he loved me and wanted me to have a great evening even if it was without him. I got the call nearly ten minutes later that he had died. I mean, I never got to talk to him or kiss him one last time. I didn't even get to see him before they planted his tree."

Hermione stopped and sat at the table where she and Henry had enjoyed many breakfasts. She missed Henry as well.

"He loved you, Hermione. I know he did." Ron said, floating to her side and lifting his hand to her hair and stroking it softly.

"I know this child will be loved, just not by its' father and that is saddening. It was too much to see Sallie holding Harrison and then to feel my own child awakened in my abdomen." She hugged Ron's neck and then Harry's.

"I would be lost without you two."

"We just want you well, Hermione." Harry poured her a large glass of milk and then walked with her up the stairs to her room.

"I saw Snape kiss your hand, Hermione. I doubt he would've if he had known I was within viewing distance." Hermione's blush returned as they entered her bedroom.

"He was just being polite. It was nice." Harry unzipped her dress and helped her out of it as she turned away from him.

"Susan must really trust you, Harry Potter."

"Yes, well, if I weren't married to Susan..." She turned to him quickly, her under dress hanging on her shoulders. Her hair fell slightly against her face as she sized up the man before her, whom she had always admired for his honesty. Perhaps, though, it wasn't a moment to be that honest, she thought.

"He said your dress was lovely."

"He was drinking tonight. His inhibitions were probably lowered." Hermione said, trying to justify her former professors actions.

"He watched you all night." Harry added, his back turned from Hermione as she put her nightdress on.

"I can't think of him tonight, Harry. Even if I did find certain ideas enjoyable, I am quite uncomfortable thinking of them further." She said bluntly to his comments.

"You did look wonderful tonight, Hermione. I mean, that dress was perfect for you. You could barely tell you were pregnant at all, not that your belly is that large anyway." She eyed her belly in the mirror and noticed it had grown larger, though not significantly.

"Thank you, Harry." She kissed his cheek and went into her bathroom.

"We'll be by this Saturday to get to those bushes." Harry called from the bedroom. Hermione didn't bother to reply, she simply sat on her floor and looked towards her ceiling. It had been a nice night, even if she had broken down into a mess.

She wondered where the new Severus Snape had come from and why he was acting so courteous towards her. He was probably trying to sugar her up so that she would treat Sallie well at work, but then Hermione never knew Severus Snape to be so courteous unless it suited his interests. She vowed not to think of him again and picked herself up from the floor and washed her face one last time before finally getting to bed.


	5. Getting to know you Severus Style

Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor. I don't know if anyone is actually reading this story, but I hope many who are writers like me understand that even though someone doesn't necessarily read your work, it still had to be written. Thanks.

Chapter 5: Getting to know you...Severus Style

The month of November was quite uneventful, though some interesting things did occur. Hermione ran out of practically everything in her pantry, which was disastrous for a pregnant woman craving everything from filet mignon to pickles with chocolate sauce. She vowed to slow down on super fattening stuff and also started a dancing regimen from her younger days. Not many people knew that Hermione had once been a very talented ballet dancer. It was something muggle that she had let go once she entered Hogwarts. Henry wrote often and though nothing terribly important had changed in his life, he did have a girl he liked by the name of Athena Rogers.

Hermione remembered her second year and couldn't recall getting on with anyone well enough to date them, aside from Gilderoy Lockhart (she tried to forget him as often as possible). Henry had also written about enjoying transfiguration more during the year. He despised the new potions master, but little had changed in that sentiment over the years. After one unnerving Friday afternoon, Sallie invited Hermione over for tea after work. At first, Hermione didn't want to accept because she knew she would be in Severus Snape's house again and although she had come to terms with their somewhat odd neighbourly relationship, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to spend high tea with him. After much encouragement from Sallie, Hermione went with her to the old home.

"Uncle Severus told me about your days as a student." Sallie said as they walked up the pathway.

"Did he, I am sure none of what he remembers is true." Hermione snidely replied, imagining Severus from her school days and wondering what he could've possibly told her.

"Actually, he said you were the smartest, if annoyingly so, witch that has graced Hogwarts since Minerva McGonagall. He told me about Ron too, but he was less than kind." Sallie sighed, her face becoming sour thinking of her Uncle's dislike for the Weasley family. Hermione remained quiet and did not comment on Severus's words. She simply walked beside Sallie, glad to have a lady friend and someone to spend a Friday with.

"Harrison and Atticus are working on their astronomy project in the north tower. They will not join us for tea." Hermione heard as she entered the ornately designed tea room.

"This is the breakfast room, Hermione. All of the children and Uncle Severus have meals here. We don't use the formal dining room more than necessary." Sallie motioned for Hermione to take the seat next to her and then remove her coat.

"Good afternoon, Madame Stuart." Severus bowed to her and took his own seat, disregarding society rules and pouring his own tea. Sallie took two cucumber sandwiches from the lazy susan and then poured her tea and then Hermiones'.

"Do you think the shipment will come early this week, Hermione?" Sallie asked, pouring cream into her tea and stirring it with a spell.

"I doubt it, last month they came a week late and I lost Mr. Gardiner's order information. I suppose he won't wait for this months shipment, so that's another customer lost over the shipping." Hermione's hands rattled against the cup as she realized she hadn't eaten much that day. Her stomach growled and grunted as she sipped more of her tea.

"Ron has therapy in the morning, is there any way you can come in? He had to reschedule with Rhonda last minute and I have my own appointment with the healer."

"That's no problem as long as Harrison can tag along for a bit."

"Perfectly fine. And thank you again, I know this schedule must seem so disorganised." Severus snorted in response to Hermione's comment and finished his tea.

"I'll be in after twelve and then you are free to leave if you have plans. I was going to close around four anyway." Hermione ate the last cucumber sandwich and wiped her mouth. She didn't truly enjoy the sideway look of uneasiness Severus was giving her, but she hadn't really expected pleasantness. She never expected anything from Severus Snape whose entire life seemed like a façade of unhappiness and despair. She respected him and that was the only thing she could freely admit.

"Thank you for tea Sallie, Master Snape, but I must be getting home." Hermione stood and waited for them to stand as well. When Sallie stood and Severus did not, Hermione grabbed her cloak and walked with her through the rather large doorway and into the foyer. "

Uncle Severus does not like me to invite people to tea when he is not aware of their invitation." Sallie explained noticing the offended look on Hermione's face.

"That's quite alright, it's not as though we're great friends or anything." Hermione's scarf wrapped itself around her neck and rested like a snake on a tree over he shoulders. Severus stood in the shadow of the foyer and watched as Hermione talked with Sallie. He wondered why she was trying so desperately to have him like her, as she had when she was his student.

"I hope you'll come again. It's sometimes hard here without someone to talk to." Hermione nodded and faced the coldness with a mission in mind; to make a friend of Sallie Jordan and to make Severus Snape see that she was a good person, even if it took a lifetime. Over the course of the last three weeks of November, Hermione had tea at Snape Manor seven times and with each tea, she learned more about Severus Snape and also about his true nature. Sure he was definitely cruel, sometimes heartless and vague, but what surprised her the most was his shyness and love for his family. He seemed to become more comfortable and pleased when Atticus and Harrison joined them for tea. November thirtieth, Hermione and Ron joined Sallie, Severus, and Harrison for tea in the breakfast room and although it was quite cold outside, they felt quite comfortable indoors.

"Henry wrote me recently and said that Michael was ill, have you heard from him?" Hermione asked Sallie as they spread marmalade on their scones.

"He wrote us last night that he felt better, but Madame Pompfrey refuses to release him from the hospital wing." Sallie replied, sadness in her voice for her brother.

"Henry was himself sick not too long ago and wanted to make a visit, but I didn't let with my own condition and I hope that is not what has made Michael sick." Ron laughed a bit at the hysteria of the women, but quieted his voice noticing Severus's dangerous stare.

"Michael has always been sickly since I can remember. Mum and Da worried that Atticus would be the same way, but he's never even had a simple cold." Sallie said, thinking fondly of her deceased parents and placing her hand on her Uncle's, though he remained quite the same unemotional figure he had been.

"Christmas will come soon and our boys will he home. Henry wants to come home this year, which surprised me because last year he stayed at Hogwarts. I guess he misses his father and I know I'll need him here."

"Yes, yes...You two women talk of nothing but depressing and melancholic blabber. Does anyone have anything remotely worthy to talk about?" Severus interjected severely.

"Pardon, sir." Hermione wiped her mouth and sat back in her chair, her middle becoming quite heavy and burdensome against the wooden table. She sipped the last of her tea and folded her arms across her chest. Ron picked up on the signal that she would like to leave and wiped his own mouth and finished his own tea.

"We should be going." He bowed as much as he could to Sallie and Harrison and cast a very irritated look towards Severus. Hermione stood sharply and wrapped her large cloak over her heavy clothes trying to appear grateful for the tea. Until that moment, she had enjoyed their teas and felt that she was truly beginning to understand Severus Snape, but nothing had changed really. He was self-serving and she couldn't help but express her herself in her own way.

"Until tomorrow, Sallie." Hermione turned from them and left the home, resigning to decline the next time Sallie offered to have her for tea.


	6. New Life part 1

1

**Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor. _Thanks_ to alicat999, Neo-Queen Serenity, Tweetyiscool, Anarane Anwamane, Makalani Astral (more of Severus's thoughts will come).**

**Chapter 6: New Life**

December was much more eventful. Hermione had discovered that shopping by herself was much easier than shopping with Ron. He couldn't understand why she needed certain items and she was tired of explaining herself to him. One particular day on her way to the market, she spotted luscious oranges imported from Florida where it was still warm. She bought four and vowed to make the most delicious orange and walnut scones anyone had enjoyed in many years. She continued to the market to buy the bread and other goods she was in desperate need of.

She tried to heed Ron's warnings about letting someone help her, but also felt determined to enjoy the freedom of shopping once more. She bought several loaves of bread, coriander for the fish she was planning on making that night for Henry's return from school, breakfast cereal, and some early infant items she knew she should've been stocking for months. She purchased nappies, formula in case she needed extra, and extra handkerchiefs for spit up. It made her feel like a mother to buy these things, as Henry was already seven when she was thrust into motherhood and she had never gotten the chance to buy infant items.

Upon her return home from the market, she realized she should've asked for someone to help her bring the bags home. It wasn't that she couldn't carry them comfortably, it was awkward with her belly and her arms were beginning to beg for relief. In one fell swoop, she dropped all five of the bags and swore quietly under her breath.

"Bugger, should've asked for help, stubborn old goat..." She said, trying to stuff the scattered items back into her bags.

"Are you in need of assistance, Madame Stuart?" Hermione heard from the pebbles in front of her. She didn't want it to be Severus Snape as she hadn't spoken to him since their last tea, but alas, fate was resigning to curse her.

"Yes, thank you, Master Snape." She replied, watching him stare at her as if he had never seen her before. He carefully picked up the heavier bags and left Hermione with the bread and baby bags. She almost wished she hadn't accepted his offer, as his strides were so large she hardly kept with him.

"You really should exercise more, Madame." He offered sarcastically. She huffed to herself and declined to comment to him.

"Why isn't Henry helping you with these things? Michael wrote just last week that he was returning to Hogsmeade." Severus asked, as she opened the back door to the kitchen.

"He isn't in yet. Harry is picking him up at King's Cross so I can get the house straightened and have my exercise." She quickly began putting the groceries away as if he weren't even there, but decided to be civil and offer him some tea.

"Would you like tea, Sir?" She asked, watching him stare at her as she moved from the refrigerator to the kettle. Hoping he wouldn't be disagreeable as he had been before.

"Yes, that would be agreeable." He replied, no feeling whatsoever. It made her a little uncomfortable to be in such close range to a former professor whom she hadn't really cared for. Sure she had always defended him against the boys and their unkind words, but she hadn't really grown attached to him over the years as she had with Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall. She poured water into the kettle and set it to boil on the range. As she moved from the perishable goods to the ones that belonged in the pantry she tried to think of something intelligent to say to Severus Snape.

"I read the paper you published on the basic guidelines for any potions classroom...they were quite informative." She stated walking from the pantry to the kitchen.

"That's very kind, it was simply something Albus...Albus Dumbledore asked me to write." She noted that his eyes had managed to avoid hers completely during the sentence.

"Henry is finding the new professor quite challenging, but I keep telling him that unless he pays attention and follows the rules, he'll never get along with any of the professors."

"Yes, well, some manage to make acquaintances of the professors even while being quite unruly." She laughed a bit at herself in the pantry, thinking and knowing he was speaking of herself and her comrades in arms, Harry and Ron.

"Do you know the new professor, Severus, Sir?" She asked finding his given name quite uncomfortable on her tongue.

"I know enough of him. I was asked to research and pick my replacement before you graduated; I hardly know how he teaches, though. Michael seems to think he is too lenient on some of the Hufflepuffs."

"How is Michael adjusting to Hogwarts?" She asked, hoping he didn't think she was trying to intrude.

"Well enough." She had pried. The loud scream of the tea made her jump a bit from her obvious distraction at Severus's words. She rushed to it quickly, but before she could remove the kettle from the water, it exploded steam and singed the hairs on her left arm.

"Bloody water." She yelled, moving the kettle from the range and placing it on the cooling rack. She went quickly to the fridge and dabbed mustard on burn.

"Mustard, Miss _Granger_?"

"Yes, mustard, _Professo_r Snape, it cools the burn faster than any spell I can find." She replied with serpent tongue to his obvious misuse of her former name, making her think back to her days as a student and how he had been less than accommodating.

"Let me see the burn before you make it worse." He said, pulling her arm away from her body.

"It's fine, really. I've done it a thousand times."

"Yes, well perhaps someday you will learn to remove the kettle before it blows steam warm enough to burn your arm."

"That will be good enough, Sir." She said, trying to retrieve her arm from his grasp.

"Hold still, you insurable woman, it won't hurt." He pulled his wand from his robes and was about to cast a spell when she pulled away quickly.

"I can't use a spell, Sir." She said, turning towards the sink to run her arm under the water.

"It can't be any worse than killing the skin with the water. I am quite sure that the water is more painful."

"I have been advised not to use magic or allow myself to be the subject of any spells, if at all possible. So far, I have been very fortunate in finding other ways to solve things."

"I have never heard of healer actually advising someone in perfect health not to use magic. Preposterous." Severus eyed her arm one more time, then stepped back from the young woman knowing how equally stubborn and courageous she could be.

"Apparently, during the final stages, my magic could interfere with the process, and I don't want to complicate anything." She replied, wrapping some extra linen around her burn.

"That is simply preposterous! What is the name of the healer your are seeing, I will have to either speak with them or report them."

"When a muggle witch is with child, especially with the child of a wizard, the amount of magic that remains in the body is uncontrollable and therefore the child can be injured or killed due to any spell inflicted on the mother, Severus." He turned towards her face quickly, eyeing her body as if he had just learned she was pregnant. Because she certainly didn't look very pregnant. But this was what she had meant at tea when she spoke of her condition. He hadn't understood before. It all made sense now that he could remember all the little things she'd said, he thought, looking into her eyes from across the kitchen.

"Surely you aren't in critical stages yet."

"Six months."

"Have you been eating correctly? You look as though you've gained very little weight." He asked as she pulled her hair back into a bun haphazardly lying on her head.

"Yes, I eat well. I have gained ten pounds already since October."

"Indeed."

"Thank you very much for your help today. I fear I am becoming quite weak in everyday tasks. Ron warned me against going to market by myself, but I didn't head him. He will be very glad to know that you helped me, Severus, Sir."

"It was nothing, Madame, I was on my way home anyway." He bowed towards her and she knew he was going to leave. As he bowed, his dark hair fell like cotton against his collar, making Hermione think of his hair when she was in school and how greasy it had always looked. She also noticed that he was again wearing muggle-type clothing, a simple pair of black trousers and a dark hunter shirt that met at the collar like a priests'. She couldn't help but smile wondering where he had managed to buy such an outfit and how difficult he probably had been to the person who had tailored him.

"Mum! Where are you? I'm home." Hermione awoke from her imaginary thoughts and walked to the edge of the kitchen and let Henry know she was making tea.

"Good day, Madame." Severus said, opening the door and walking out towards his own home.

"Was Master Snape here?" Henry asked as the door closed behind the enigmatic man.

"Yes, he helped me home with my groceries today."

"Mum, you look so different." Henry hugged her tightly and then stepped back to take a look around the kitchen.

"Harry and Ron are waiting for us at the bookstore." Henry said, giving her another large hug. She looked out towards Severus's house and then let Henry go.

"We'll need to be going then." Hermione walked with Henry out of their front door and down a path she had grown quite accustomed to in her months at the house. She knew the turn of the cobblestone road once it met Gentry station as if she were blind.

"Did you have a nice trip home, Henry?" Hermione asked, her arm around the twelve year old.

"It was okay. I've invited Michael Snape to stay the night, if that's all right. He doesn't really want to be home today for some reason."

"That's fine. I am making a roast. When we get back home you'll have to prepare the guest room beside yours as Ron has been staying in the other one." She noted that Henry's face was filled with concern for his friend.

"Did he not say why he didn't want to be home tonight?" She asked, hoping to learn why her son suddenly seemed very solemn.

"He just said he didn't want to be home tonight." They were silent for the remainder of their journey to the bookstore. Hermione felt it was silly to press the matter further and would somehow ask Michael about it when he was at dinner.

"Ron and Harry have a surprise for you Mum. I wouldn't normally want to ruin a surprise, but I think this needs a bit of warning, considering." She observed another cautious look from Henry and then took a deep breath before entering the store. Holding Henry's hand, Hermione took one step into the store and then stopped in her tracks completely.

"What have you done?" Hermione asked, staring up towards the ceiling and all around the room. There were hundreds of pictures of she and Wallace. Baby pictures, their wedding pictures, pictures of Henry as a child, and also of Hermione's days at Hogwarts.

"This is your baby shower, Hermione. We thought it would be nice to include Wallace as much as possible." She turned to her best friends, tears in her eyes from the moment she saw the pictures, and walked to them quickly, not knowing that there were quite a few people in the room aside from them.

"You two are wonderful." She embraced them both and turned to other people in the room. Molly and Ginny Weasley were sitting together on a faded couch that looked like the one from her basement. Her mother and Wallace's were at the counter along with Sallie and Tonks.

"How did you all escape from hogwarts?" Hermione asked Minerva McGonagall, Poppy Pomfrey, and Pomona Sprout. They all smiled sweetly towards her and said that it was after all Christmas holidays. Ron led her to a chair where there were several gifts around her.

"We wanted to make sure you had a proper shower." Harry said, handing her a gift from he and Susan.

"This is all too much." She said, waving towards Sallie to come sit with her.

"Open your gifts, Hermione, so we can eat." Ron whispered in her ear.

"Oh, Harry, how lovely." She showed everyone the outfits.

"You can change the colour once you know what you are having, Veronica liked the one with the lioness especially." Harry added, watching Hermione open his other gift. An oak changing table with a terry cloth pad where the baby would lay. She shrank it back to the smaller size before opening Ron's gifts. He had found her a self-rocking chair and loads of nappies. Hermione went through the remainder of the gifts. Sallie and Harrison had given her the loveliest journal and quill set for writing about her child during crucial months and her own feelings as well.

"You all have given me such lovely things. I can hardly thank you enough." She stood and went around to all of the ladies in the room, hugging them and thanking them. She gave Harry and Ron hugs as well.

"When did you all do this?" She asked, noticing a rather devilish look on Ron's face.

"Let's just say we had a little help from your neighbour." Harry said.

"What?"

"We asked Snape to follow you to the store and make sure your grocery bags fell. He actually seemed keen on the idea to give us time. We didn't tell him why we needed the time in case he accidentally on purpose told you." Ron answered, smiling rather proudly towards her.

"He did it on purpose." Hermione stated, feeling her arm burn again where the kettles' steam had exploded.

"It was only to keep you busy, Hermione." Harry added, noticing that she wasn't very pleased. He took her hand in his and become aware of the burn on her arm.

"How did you do this, Hermione?"

"Making tea today. When I got the groceries home, I offered tea to Severus and then lost my thoughts when I was taking the kettle from the range." Harry accessed the burn and then turned to Ron.

"We didn't mean to get you burned, Hermione." She giggled at his honest concern for her welfare and then recovered her hand from his.

"You have made me very happy, boys." She walked to Henry and put her arm around his shoulders, a feet that was becoming harder due to his increasing height.

"Do you like your siblings things?" She asked, as they looked towards a picture of Wallace's youth.

"Yes, it was all very nice."

"Your father would've loved to have been here. " They stood together for another five minutes or so before Henry faced her abruptly. She looked at one particular picture of she and Wallace when she was fresh out of Hogwarts. She had her school robes on and he was wearing his own working robes of the darkest blue she'd ever seen. His blonde hair and hazel eyes seemed to glow against the dark robes.

"I want to come home when the baby is born, Mum, even if there is no holiday. I am the man of the house now, and I want to be there."

"Of course, Henry, I'll write to Dumbledore." Hermione answered Henry and then went to talk with her mother about the progress of the pregnancy. Her Mum always seemed worried that she wasn't taking care of herself, but Hermione knew she was pleased all the same. She noticed also, that her mother seemed quite withdrawn. She'd spoken to Wilmette, Wallace's mother, but no one else. Hermione hoped she would enjoy the socializing, but then knew her mother didn't want to enjoy the party.  
After socializing and thanking everyone for their gifts, Hermione beckoned Ron to her side.

"I am getting a little tired, Ron, I think it's time for me to head home." Ron nodded and floated towards Harry and gathered some of the gifts together.

"Harry and I are going to take Henry and Michael to Hogsmeade for a bit. Henry wants to look at brooms. I am going to eat with some friends tonight, so don't expect me." Hermione hugged Ron tightly and waved as the majority of the people exited the store.

"Sallie, we're just going to close early tonight. Will you remind Severus that Michael will be with us?" Sallie nodded, looking solemn for a moment as she finished recording the receipts for the day.

"I will make sure to do so." Sallie grabbed her handbag and walked with Hermione towards Sedna Station. It was a quiet walk, one Hermione wished would be less so, yet was comfortable. Before walking towards her own house, Hermione hugged Sallie and thanked her for the wonderful gifts.

"Have a good evening, Sallie." Hermione said politely as they came upon the walkway to Snape Manor.

"Thank you Hermione." Sallie turned towards the gate, but paused looking towards her. She smiled softly and then opened the tall, rod iron gate and continued on her own lonely path.

Finally at her kitchen table, Hermione gulped back a tall glass of milk and got ready for the days exercise. She was exhausted, but needed the exercise to release the day's stress. She quickly walked up the long stairwell and into her bedroom. Nothing much had changed in the room. It was still odd for her to want to decorate such a room. A room she dictated as empty without her husband.

After changing into a modified leotard and loose cotton pants, she headed back downstairs to stretch and get motivated. The music she had chosen was light and then intense like the feelings she felt when she first danced before an audience. It had been when she was ten. Her dance instructor was a true ballerina and wasn't afraid to boast of it; yet Hermione was humbled by her grace. In the years at Hogwarts, she had given dance up, knowing it would interfere with her studies. She became a clumsy and awkward girl, nothing like the poised and confident one she had been in her muggle life.

After stretching and warming up, she used her wand to turn the music louder and began to dance in slow, wide circles around her large den. The song was one she had heard many times in her youth. A self-composed instrumental by her late father. There were several parts in the song where she could swear her fathers voice was present. As the music got faster she twirled and threw her arms at her side, taking simple jumps across the room. As the music slowed, she danced in place, feeling her entire body pleading for release. The music engulfed her and made her body move so quickly that she felt as though she was flying. She stopped briefly to pull her long hair from her face and then resumed her dancing for about thirty minutes. She was unaware of the room around her, the fact that Henry and Michael would be returning soon and that she would have to be the same responsible and reliable Mum she had always been. Before she had time to catch her breath, she heard a knock at the door that sounded very harsh and quick.

"**Hold on a sec." She quieted the music and towelled her face, realizing there was more than sweat there.**

**this is the end of the first part of this chapter. **

**to answer a few questions:**

**Severus resigned as potions master the summer after Hermione, Ron, and Harry graduated school. His niece and nephews came to live with him two years later after the fall of voldemort. Draco Malfoy, Severus' brother and sister-in-law, and countless others were killed. that will be explained further into the story. thanks for reading, the second part will be up shortly.**


	7. New Life part 2

1

**Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor . **

"I though you had a key, you silly boy...Oh, pardon, Sir, I mistook you for Henry." She dropped her towel at the sight of her former professor, but bent quickly and tucked it tight in her hand.

"May I help you?" She asked, noting that he seemed flustered by her attire.

"Henry asked earlier if Michael would like to join you for dinner, but I wanted to ascertain if the invitation was indeed offered from you, Madame Stuart." She laughed slightly at the man before her, so concerned with social etiquette yet still so domineering and cold where politeness would have been appreciated.

"Michael is always welcome at my table, Severus." She said, feeling the clumsiness using of his name slide off her tongue. "As well as Atticus, Sallie, and Harrison if they would like to come. You as well, if you could dismiss the lack of formality in our habits." She brought the towel to her face and dabbed where perspiration had accumulated.

"Very, well, Michael may come to dinner and I will come for him around eight."

"He is welcome to stay the night." She interrupted.

"I doubt he will remain as tomorrow is an important day for him." Severus replied, watching her hands move from her face to her side, arching an eyebrow at her unruly hair.

"What day is that, Sir."

"His parents passed four years ago tomorrow and as his Uncle and guardian, I feel he should spend this time with his siblings."

"Yes, to remind him so..." She stopped not wanting to offend the man before her, although she disagreed with his ideas of mourning and remembrance. "I expect them soon. Michael will be ready by eight for your return, promptly. Good evening, professor, sir, Severus." She stammered trying to shoo him from her foyer and onto the cobblestone.

"Do you disagree with my decision, Hermione?" He asked, the exact look in his eyes she had seen many times as a student. She turned to face him, the sound of her name on his lips was graceless and choppy.

"Yes, but I will not disrespect you or your decision." The towel had fallen once again from her grasp and the chilled air was beginning to cool her body.

"Why do you disagree?" he asked, bending to pick the towel up from the stone floor.

"I will not argue with you about our separate methods of mourning and childrearing. I find that theses types of arguments become childish and snide. And as neither of us are children, I suggest we stop the discussion." She pulled her arms around her front and stood erect, taller then she had been all day.

"No, we are not children." He stepped from her doorway and turned towards his home.

"Henry flies well." He added.

"Gryffindor refuses to have him on their team. He tried out in October, but they claimed he was too small, show me another twelve year old that tall and I will admit he is short. I've written Minerva on the subject, but she says there's nothing she can really do. He practices with ravenclaw sometimes, but I fear he his weakness is being able to play on a team as a teammate. He has flown competitively for years, he just doesn't understand the ethics of team work."

"They have a promising team this year, not that I would ever admit that to Minerva."

"Yes, I've heard. I cannot fly, especially now and with Harry so busy and Ron in the wheel chair, Henry has no one to fly with him aside from Michael and that's only on break. A Gryffindor and Slytherin can't really be seen teaming up so closely at Hogwarts, especially when Quidditch is involved." She folded her arms even tighter around her breasts and stared towards Severus's field with a look of sadness in her eyes.

"Did your husband fly competitively?" He asked, stunning her as he had never asked about her husband before.

"Yes, for a while, but he rather got caught up in his research and stopped flying."

"What did he research?"

"The magical properties of the blood. Basically why some people are born squibs and some wizards or witches, like me, from muggle parents. It intrigued him that someone like me had magical power where his sister had none whatsoever." Severus nodded his head and then Hermione felt as though perhaps he had been trying to be polite in asking her and perhaps she shouldn't have expanded on her thought.

"Are you continuing his research?"

"Yes, eventually. I hired Sallie so I would have more time to get things done, but it seems all I have done is re write everything Wallace already had finished." She stepped back slightly from her door and wondered if he would mind is she sat down squarely on the floor.

"Sallie enjoys working with you." He replied blandly, noticing the odd way in which she stood, one leg as if jelly hanging from her body and the other stiff as a board.

"If you don't mind, Severus, I am extremely tired and really need to get dinner ready so I can sit down for a minute." He looked almost offended as she finished her speech.

"Of course, excuse me from keeping you"

"I mean, you are welcome to stay while I get everything ready and for dinner as well, if you would like, Ron's eating with friends. The boys should be home any minute as it is." He hesitated for second and then walked past her slowly, breathing in the smell of her hair as he walked beyond her.

"By the way, you were a very believable passer-by today. Ron and Harry were quite grateful." She noted the small smirk grace his lips and leave as quickly as it had come. In no time, she was in the kitchen removing the roast from the oven and basting it for about the hundredth time that day. She loved cooking the muggle way as it made her feel she had accomplished something.

"Would you like some wine?" She asked, going to the cellar to grab some wine and herbs.

"That would be sufficient." He replied, watching her walk to the cellar, her hair slowly falling from atop her head.

"If you don't mind, I am going to freshen up a bit before the boys get back. Henry gets embarrassed when I don't wear popular clothing around his friends. I fear I've become a wicked old stepmother." Hermione poured his wine and showed him to the den and then went to the stairwell quickly. She wanted to find something decent to wear that didn't make her look like a whale and still didn't cut her waist too tight. She tore her clothes off and changed swiftly, not wanting Severus to be waiting in her clustered home for too long unattended.

As she rounded the bottom steps, she heard muffled voices coming from the den.

"Only if you understand that I am willing to help teach you and that I can't make any promises, Henry." She heard Severus say.

"Of course, Master Snape." She walked towards Henry and hugged him firmly.

"Did you have a good time with Harry and Ron?" She asked, going over to Michael to take his coat.

"They have the new Nimbus 3000 out, but they want a great bundle for it. Michael and I got to test it in the alley." She gave him a stern look and wondered how Severus had taken the news.

"They still let you test the brooms in the alley?" Severus asked the boys.

"Yes, uncle, they let us and it was fantastic." Michael imitated his Uncle's half-smile and flicked Henry in the arm.

"Freshen up, boys, dinner will be ready in about five minutes."

"Yes, Mum." Henry and Michael walked towards the bathroom, laughing at their silly guardians and their lack of knowledge.

"Sorry about that, Severus. I didn't know they would be testing the brooms."

"It's quite alright." She showed the gentleman into the dining room and had them sit. It wasn't often that they actually dined in the dining room, as Hermione and Wallace were usually caught up in their work and just threw something together last minute for Henry to eat. Henry, on the other hand, liked the formality of a formal dinner. He liked the polite way in which people talked and ate their meal.

"Do you need a hand, mum?" Henry called from his chair, noticing her loud humph from the room.

"No, dear, that isn't necessary." She called back in mock-happy housewife tone. She was having trouble carrying the baking tray of roast with both hands without burning her other arm. Without heeding his mother, Henry went to the kitchen and helped her take the roast out to the table.

"Thank you, sweetheart." She said, watching him carry the pan. It wasn't often that he offered to help her with dinner and she rather liked it. She did suspect that he was trying to make Severus see him as responsible and not childish in any fashion.

"I hope you all like the roast. Henry always enjoys it w hen he comes home from school." Hermione passed the bread to Michael and noticed Severus was looking at her with a peculiar eye.

"My mother made roast as well, but she usually burnt it, not that it didn't still taste good, we just gave most of it to Milo, our dog." Michael laughed a bit, smiling towards Hermione and his Uncle.

"Mum's do that sometimes, I'm afraid." They ate relatively silent for the rest of the meal, aside from people asking for bread or potatoes. She felt secure in knowing that her roast wasn't a complete loss as they asked for seconds. In no time, their plates were empty and their stomachs pleasantly filled.

"How are Atticus and Harrison doing with school?" Hermione asked, standing to take the plates to the kitchen.

"Far better than they would if they were still at Crawford's. Harrison is grasping concepts that aren't introduced until the first grade, which I find remarkable. Atticus has always been a fine student, he simply has a hard time performing what he has learned."

"Has he been tested for any learning disorders?" She asked, returning to the dining room with coffee and cakes.

"Unfortunately, there really isn't testing for young wizard children as any kind of learning disorder is looked down upon." Severus replied, sipping the red wine in his glass as if it were poison, testing each sip for a bitter remnant.

"I can run some tests on him some time. I studied with a child psychiatrist while we lived in Caithness. I mean, if that would be agreeable." Hermione offered, knowing he was probably too proud to allow his nephew to be subject to muggle testing.

"Anything to help him understand his genius." Severus answered, his eyes revealing true desire to help his nephew, his face blank of all emotion. She tried not to seem surprised in his answer, but couldn't help but imagine that somewhere, deep down, he was a better person than he let on.

"Are they on a break from their tutoring?"

"Yes, they are on a small break. Atticus has gone with Sallie to visit some friends tonight, but they will be home tomorrow." It was Henry's loud yawn that broke the two from their obvious other-dimension and back to the world in which they had two young fellows ready for bed. Hermione walked the cake plates to the kitchen and wiped her brow from sweat. It wasn't often that she sweat, it was only during the warmer nights over even warmer stoves that she sweat. Before returning to the dining room, she rested her arms on the island between the sink and range, and bowed her head into them. Was she lonesome? Were the emotions in her heart simply too much for her to enjoy a peaceful night in her home with friends? She rested there for a few minutes, wiped her face free of melancholy, and returned to the men waiting for her dismissal.

"It was a pleasure having you both for dinner tonight. I fear we hardly entertain guests anymore." Hermione said, wiping her hands on her dress and patting Henry's shoulder.

"Thank you inviting us, Hermione." Michael stated, looking up towards the young woman and then his Uncle whose eyes were poison at the mention of her given name.

"Yes, **Madame**, thank you." Severus bowed his head and tapped his nephew on the shoulder to motion him away from the table. They walked slowly to the door, but before exiting, Severus turned to Hermione.

"I have offered to help Henry learn to fly more productively. I hope this isn't a problem."

"No, Severus, it is perfectly fine. He will benefit, greatly, I am sure." She moved her eyes from his and looked on to the boys walking together in perfect unison. They looked like brothers walking together, so slim and tall, yet still so innocent and young. She wondered what Henry had been through at school and how the others treated him.

"Henry seems to be adjusting." Severus said, noticing Hermione's concerned face.

"I hope I have helped him and not hurt him with these changes."

"Some things are unpredictable. I would never have predicted, when you were a student, that I would have dinner at your home or have a conversation about the education of my nephews and your help in this. These things are life and I assume there is more to this story than meets the eye yet." He bowed once more and stepped in front of her to go towards the gate.

"Thank you again, Master Snape for offering to help Henry, he needs someone to be firm with him."

"I will bring Atticus with me when it is convenient for you to test him." With that, he continued out of the gate and accompanied his nephew up the pathway to their home. Henry walked back towards the house and gave his Mum a large hug.

"Michael thinks you are beautiful." She laughed at his statement, but felt flattered all the same.

"You two are a mess, I am sure." Henry closed the door behind him and walked with his Mum to the kitchen.

"Did you enjoy Hogsmeade, I mean more than just trying the broom?"

"Harry introduced me to this really nice man named Seamus who ran the new ice cream shoppe in Hogsmeade. He told me this great story about you and Ron. Can't believe Ron used to like you that way...I mean, come on, like you would've ever dated him." Henry rolled his eyes and scrubbed a couple dishes and rinsed them in the sink.

"He and I were too opposite. I believe he just wanted someone to do his homework."

"Michael has a girlfriend. Her name is Stephanie and she is in Ravenclaw."

"That's nice."

"Not really, she doesn't like me so much and when we have quidditch games, she doesn't like for me to sit with him. She especially doesn't like Athena, but we're not officially dating anyway" Hermione put the remainder of the dishes up and put her arm around his tense shoulder.

"How old is she?"

"fifteen."

"He certainly likes them older, huh? Well, I would recommend finding something that she likes and trying to show her you like it too or find out why she doesn't like you to sit with them. Young girls and most older ones get really possessive of their boyfriends and don't want their male friends around."

"She doesn't like that we are friends. I thought it was because I was in Gryffindor, but then her sister is in Gryffindor too, so that can't be it. It's bad enough that people look at Michael and I oddly because he's in Slytherin."

"How could anyone not like you, sweetheart? Are you cruel to her?" Hermione walked with Henry to the second floor and then to his room, a complete mess of clothes and schoolbooks.

"I have tried to be nice to her, like I saved a seat for her during the Halloween feast in the Great Hall next to Michael and me, but she acted like I poisoned her pumpkin juice or something."

"Sometimes girls are just like that, honey, not that I ever was. Perhaps she is intimidated by your friendship. It does happen sometimes. Your father was intimidated by Harry and Ron at first because they knew me so differently than he did. They were with me through everything and he felt as though he couldn't compete with that. But, our life became another adventure that Harry and Ron couldn't understand because they weren't married. You see what I mean?" Hermione started to pick up clothes around his room and noticed the picture of Wallace and herself at their first home together. She picked the picture up and wondered if perhaps that Henry missed his real Mum or even viewed her as a Mum at all.

"I understand completely, Mum, girls are trouble." Henry laughed as Hermione returned the picture to it's home on Henry's dusty bedside table. She looked towards the boy who would never be hers biologically, but who she loved as if she had carried him with her as the child now in her womb. In silence, she moved to his side and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Do you miss your Mum and Dad, Henry?" Hermione asked, emotions boiling over from the day.

"Of course I miss Dad, but I can't make him come back, so I don't dwell on it and you shouldn't either. You have my brother or sister to be taking care of. And as for my Mum, well you are my Mum." Hermione hugged Henry for the hundredth time that day and felt more at peace then she had in months.

"I love you, Henry."

"Of course you do, how could you not?" She walked from his room to her own and decided that she needed to change the bed spread to something less sterile, something more red.


	8. Marry Christmas part 1

Dislcaimer: I do not own anything and am not making money off of this fan fiction. Thank you so very much to my reviewers, I have to say i have never felt so complimented and accepted. Thanks again.

Chapter Seven: Marry Christmas

The next morning, Hermione and Henry dressed in their finest robes and accompanied Ron to the war memorial. It had been four years since the war ended and yet the people lost in it weren't forgotten. There were many events in history where the people who died for the cause were casually forgotten over time. Great heroes like the four founders of Hogwarts were forever remembered, even if they weren't always upstanding citizens. And the people that died in the War against Voldemort were remembered in a great park in Edinburgh where the trees were forever blooming and the air crisp and cool. This was where Wallace's father was buried. Where Draco Malfoy and Satinus and Solaris Snape were buried. Great people who fought the good fight and lost their lives.

"Grandfather was so kind. I remember him telling me great stories that his grandfather told him like Jiminy Pickle and Pete and the Dragon. I wish he were still here. Grandmother needs him." Hermione hugged her son tightly and smoothed his sweater against his back. She couldn't find anything philosophical to say to comfort her son, so she stuck to the old adage.

"Your grandfather was a great man." Hermione said, trying with all her might to comfort her son the only way she knew how.

"Can we visit the others now?" Henry asked, looking down towards the end of the row where several large white oak trees were planted.

"Yes, we can if you'd like." Hermione kept a tight grip on her son as they walked passed the many people there to visit their relatives and friends. She noticed some people, but many were old friends whom she hadn't kept in contact with since her days as a student. As they came upon the last bit of trees she saw one that she could hardly bear to recognize.

"Did you know him well, Mum?"

"Yes honey, he was a teacher when I was your age. I often came to him with my problems as you do with Professor Fitzsimmons." Hermione searched her abnormally large bag for tissues and wiped her swollen eyes.

"Was he really a half-giant?" Henry asked, imagining how great it would be to know someone who was half-giant. After all, he had heard great stories of the infamous Rubeus Hagrid.

"Of course he was and proud of it too. Hagrid was more than that, dear, he was a great friend and I just can't believe he's gone sometimes." Hermione smiled towards Henry as she caught the eyes of Ron and Harry who had come up beside them.

"Like Dad." Henry whispered, trying not to upset his Mum, but still needing to say the words.

"Yes, like Dad." Hermione hugged Henry tight against her. She needed the familiarity of him; she needed to know that something of her husband was surviving.

"Lets go say hello to Sallie and the boys, okay?" Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Henry walked over to a large group of pine trees and said hello.

"I hope we aren't intruding." Hermione said, shaking Harrison's hand and pulling him into a tight squeeze.

"Of course not, Hermione, we're just reflecting and saying some words." Sallie ruffled Michael's hair before putting her arm slightly around Hermione's shoulders. Henry walked over to Michael and stood beside him, not touching or saying a word.

"Harrison recognized Draco's tree. I thought I was going to pass out." Hermione's eyes scanned the trees before her. Satinus and Solaris Snape's trees were of the darkest hunter she'd ever seen on a fur tree. And Draco's a heavenly white oak so tall and broad that it was hard to imagine it was but four years old. She thought about Sallie's statement and tried to imagine something comforting to reply.

"But that's good, isn't it. I mean that signifies that he understands death and why some people die and why other's must suffer in their absence."

"I just want him to know that he did have a father and that we did love each other. Sometimes I am afraid to move on, to take that next step because Harrison is still so young and may identify with this new man instead of the man who was his father."

"I honestly have that same fear. Mine is a little more complicated because Henry isn't biologically my son."

"I cried so much when Draco was killed I was afraid for my child because that much depression, that much anger cannot be healthy. I wanted so much to love my baby and protect it, but sometimes I just wanted to have Draco back."

"I guess I never realized before the distinct similarities in our situations." Hermione and Sallie stared towards the men as they stood, no one speaking. Hermione wondered if Henry would be ready to go, as she was getting tired and also wanted to be free of prying eyes.

"We should be going, Henry." Hermione said, taking his hand in hers and leading him away slightly.

"I'll see you tomorrow Sallie."

"Yes, tomorrow morning." Sallie and Harrison waved to them, but looked the sadder for their sudden absence.

"If I don't see you before Christmas, Merry Christmas, Michael, Atticus, and Severus." They all returned their merry Christmas and with that Hermione and Henry left the memorial.

"Is Madame Hermione going anywhere for Christmas, Sallie?" Michael asked.

"Didn't Henry tell you, they're staying home for Christmas this year? I don't think it will do either of them well, though, being alone on Christmas." Sallie replied as Hermione and Henry rounded the corner. A thought struck Severus Snape suddenly and with that, they also adjourned to their home.

The following week, Hermione received a rather abrupt and unexpected invitation to a Christmas Eve dinner with Severus and his family. She folded it tightly and put it in her mail drawer, wondering if Henry would mind having a bit more company on Christmas instead of just the two of them. She didn't really think about it again that morning until she heard Henry putting his Quidditch gear on and heading towards Severus's north paddock.

"Henry, dear, would you mind terribly if we attended a dinner with Master Snape and his family on Christmas Eve?" Hermione asked her son, his face already covered in dirt and sweat from working in the house.

"That sounds like it could be interesting."

"I just thought since we don't have Dad this year, it would be worse being alone on Christmas Eve." He patted her hand against the table and smiled.

"I think that would be nice, as long as it's just you and me on Christmas morning. I mean, it would be nice having a less formal thing, I guess."

"Alright then, take this to Severus for me." Hermione penned a quick note and handed it slowly to Henry who seemed more than eager to get to his practice. She watched him walk up the cobblestone and smiled knowing he was enjoying his lessons and becoming greater friends with Michael Snape. Before leaving her house for the hospital, Hermione left Ron a note about her appointment in case he had forgotten, which was normal for him lately. She grabbed her bag soon after and flooed to Osgood's hospital and waited for Healer Eleanor for a general check-up. Healer Eleanor would also be helping her during the delivery of her child and that comforted Hermione because she felt more relaxed with the woman.

"Everything seems to be going fine, although I think you could stand to gain a few more pounds. Sometimes it seems that women gorge themselves and have unhealthy pregnancies because of their weight gain, but you are in perfect health and need those extra pounds for a healthy baby." Healer Eleanor said, helping Hermione sit up from the cold table.

"And you still don't want to know the sex, dearie?" She asked, turning from Hermione as she changed back into her clothes.

"No, not today. Perhaps in three months." The healer nodded her head and handed Hermione her appointment card. The appointments seemed to go smoother as she continued in her pregnancy. The baby's' health was of utmost importance to Hermione and she was determined to produce a healthy and happy baby, no matter what.

"You need to up the does of the potion by two teaspoons until further notice." Hermione nodded, thanked Eleanor and left the hospital as quietly as she'd come.

Severus stared at the three boys flying around their makeshift Quidditch pitch and remembered his own days as a young boy, wanting to fly so freely. His mother had always hated Quidditch and felt that anyone who aspired to be successful in the profession would never have the right recognition for a successful life; in laymen's terms, Severus was never allowed to play Quidditch at home and his parents never encouraged him to play in school, though he did for six years.

"Did you see that, Uncle, Henry scored past me like I was invisible." Severus nodded to his nephew and joined the boys in the air.

"Do you understand what I mean now? You have to work with the other people in your team to attain your ultimate goal which is to score points, but most importantly to make sure the other teams' players are distracted from your own seeker." Severus pointed to Atticus who was actively seeking the snitch and then to Michael who still seemed surprised at Henry's skilful play.

"I cannot stress enough that everyone has a certain job to perform. Your job is to maintain the quaffle and help defend your post whenever possible. Now Michael, I want you to practice passing with Henry until you can pass without looking at each other." Severus flew back down to the ground and watched the boys. He hadn't ever really noticed how long and lean Henry Stuart really was, but then he wasn't his professor and before their move to Hogsmeade, he hadn't paid much attention to Hermione Stuart's family. Before he could will the memories of his younger years, Severus thought of Hermione and her days as his student. At times he wondered if he had really been **that **cruel to her, and then other times he knew he'd been a down right bastard.

"You have to sense what Michael is doing, Henry, in case you cannot see him clearly." Severus took a seat on the bench next to the pitch, his thoughts now more in the present, remembering her obvious enjoyment of tea with Sallie and him and then the even more obvious despondency of her exit from the last tea. He'd tried to mend that bridge ever sense, yet it seemed every time he opened his mouth, he uttered something completely inappropriate or equally rude. And then, as if to remember why he had gained the reputation he had during his years as a professor, he wondered why he cared about the silly girl at all. She was precocious, arrogant, and ultimately a klutz.

"Don't look at him this time, Henry, look towards Atticus and try to feel what Michael's move is going to be." Henry turned his head away from Michael and watched Atticus fly into the air and then fall gracefully towards the ground. He hoped that his Mum would have a boy; someone he could teach Quidditch to and fly with when he was older.

"Atticus, have you found the snitch yet?" Severus called out to his raven-haired nephew who seemed more content to fly lazily then search for a tiny golden ball.

"Twice, Uncle, perhaps it is broken." Atticus fly softly beside his Uncle and handed the snitch to him, not realizing how truly magnificent his capture was.

"When you were following the snitch, how did you anticipate where it would go?" Severus asked the small boy.

"I watched it fly." Severus let go of the snitch again and watched Atticus take off to it like a bird to its prey. He flew with great speed, his posture could've used some refinement, but his mind was set on his goal and that was the answer to his educational woes. He needed a goal and a direct path to obtaining the goal.

"Good job boys. On Friday we will work on manoeuvres primarily." Henry, Michael, and Atticus all landed beside Severus and waited for further instructions.

"We won't be flying tomorrow, Uncle?" Atticus asked, setting his broom on the ground and scratching his left leg.

"No, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we won't have time to practice with the dinner." Severus helped Atticus free of his heavy Quidditch cloak and then turned from the boys to return home.

"Wait, Sir, I forgot completely. My Mum asked me to give you this." Henry said trying to catch the man who walked with the stride of two full-grown men.

"Thank you, Mr. Stuart." He replied, his long snake-like fingers wrapping around the letter and placing it in his right breast pocket.

"Until tomorrow, Michael." Henry mock-bowed and turned from his good friend.

"Tomorrow." Michael, Atticus, and Severus walked back to the manor, so foreboding and massive. 'Why would anyone ever need that much room?' Severus had thought as an adolescent returning home from school. Soon after, the space was exactly what he needed when his mother and father chose to deny his existence, but those thoughts were miserable and vague and he needn't be bothered to remember the wretched people. When he found some quiet time, alone in his library, Severus retrieved the letter from his right breast pocket and sat in his chair, a glass of sherry in his free hand.

'Master Severus Snape,

Henry and I would be delighted to join you and your family for Christmas Eve dinner. You wrote that it would be informal, so I am going to ask if I need to supply anything for the dinner or the children. Please let me know as soon as possible and I will gladly comply. Yours, etc.

Hermione J.G. Stuart'

He folded the letter back into its original state and sighed. He hadn't truly expected her to accept his invitation, though he knew through the over heard conversations of his niece Sarah and Ronald Weasley that she didn't have plans or company for Christmas. His hands rested softly over the rough parchment and hoped he wasn't losing his mind. He couldn't help but think of his life at Hogwarts. How he treated the people around him and how unhappy he had been away from Snape Manor. His mind travelled between thoughts of duelling, potions, and Quidditch matches. He remembered the young Hermione and her determination to protect her friends.

The protection of the philosopher's stone, the basilisk, the time turner, the spell work in fourth year, the work at the ministry in fifth year, the papers she published in sixth year, and mostly the work she did for the order when barely eighteen in her last year, his last year. He now remembered clearly why he had been thinking of Hermione Stuart so informally and often, she was lovely and beautiful and intelligent; all the things he could never be. Most of all, the one thing he had secretly strived for all his life was her selflessness. He swallowed the last bit of his sherry and took out parchment. ' She is a six-month pregnant widow who hasn't released the memory of her husband, Severus, you'll just have to forget she exists'. He thought, bitterly. With that, he wrote her promptly that she need only bring herself and Henry, that they were quite capable of providing Christmas dinner. He tied the letter loosely to his owl's leg and watched it fly the mere quarter mile. She didn't need added pressure from someone who tortured her as a youth and who was in all respects the same age as her father. She needed comfort from a family. She needed people to encourage her condition and help her through her emotions. He wanted to let her form her own opinion of him, yet knew that old grudges die hard and with that, he placed her simple letter in his letter box and extinguished the light above the mantle.

"So he's been helping Henry with Quidditch?" Ron asked as Hermione dished out the Sheppard's pie.

"For a little bit, but it's really made a difference. I mean, Henry has always loved Quidditch and has always flown well, yet now he has direction. He is striving to learn and be productive." Ron laughed a bit remembering his former professor refereeing the Quidditch match in third year. He hadn't imagined that Severus Snape was any good at quidditch, apparently he was wrong.

"What are you and Henry doing for Christmas Eve?" Ron swallowed a large bite of his Sheppard's pie and watched as Hermione's face turned a little pink.

"Severus has invited Henry and I to a dinner at the manor."

"That sounds interesting." Ron swallowed a bit more of his wine and wiped the edges of his mouth where food and spirits had collected.

"I made sure Henry was up to it. I mean, without Wallace this year we don't want to stay home. My mother is out of the country and Willet is ill. Harry invited us to his house, but I am trying to keep myself out of that situation." Hermione sighed heavily and drank the last of her milk. She truly hated milk and hoped someday she could explain to her child the real sacrifice she'd made for it.

"Veronica asked to stay with us a couple weeks ago because they were having a row. I can't believe they argue like that in front of her." Ron's voice was full of anger and empathy for the five year old. He loved Veronica greatly and that was apparent to Hermione.

"Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"She asked me at the bookstore and I didn't know how much you knew about the situation, so I told her to floo here if she needs us. I have to admit it has disturbed me more than I thought it would." Ron's eyes met Hermione's with a look she'd never seen before; he was quite miserable. She had seen him after the battle and the anger he now displayed seemed more uncontrollable than it had been.

"Well, let's hope for the best and maybe they can work it out."

"Yes, and perhaps blast-ended skrewts will sprout wings. Honestly, I think they would both be happier if they split permanently. Harry isn't in love with Susan and vice versa."

"I always thought they were so happy. I was so lost in my own world, I suppose I never saw what was really happening." Hermione finished her Sheppard's pie and waited for Ron to form his train of thought. Sometimes he argued with himself on what to say without sounding silly. She noticed that he was using both of his hands with great ease and felt very proud of him; a breakthrough at last.

"I hope, if they do split, that they will do right by Veronica. She needs two parents who can work together, not two parents who hate each other because they were basically forced to marry." Ron brought his hand to his mouth and swallowed hard. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Why were they forced to marry?"

"Do the math. Veronica was born seven and a half months after they were married. It doesn't take a bloody genius."

"I guess I never really thought about it before." Hermione wondered why she hadn't noticed this fact and then realized it was because she was still a newly wed at the time and hadn't really kept in touch with the boys closely.

"Why did they get married if they didn't want to?"

"You know how it is, I mean Susan's family is so diplomatic and involved with the ministry. They couldn't have an un-wed mother in their family so they basically bribed Harry, but he was head over heels for someone completely different." Ron wiped his mouth for the last time and pulled his plate from the table as he floated to the sink.

"And who was that? I mean, I thought he only ever liked Susan." Hermione watched Ron float back to the table and then towards the large French doors leading towards the stairs.

"Are you that blind, Hermione, he was so in love with you. I promised never to tell you, but I have to now that his marriage is so volatile. Please don't say anything to him, but I fear he is sabotaging his marriage because he knows that you are now single." Ron said in a muffled whisper and then floated through the doors to the stairwell and turned only to see her slight nod.

"Okay, Ron, I won't say anything." Hermione thought back to Halloween and her comment about Susan trusting him. He had seemed so jealous when he talked of Snape, but she thought it was merely his vendetta from school, not some hidden love she'd never noticed. She folded her arms in her lap and stared at the empty space where Ron had been wishing she hadn't asked or known of Harry's feelings.

"Mum, I'm home." Henry called as he came through the door.

"I made Sheppard's pie, sweetie, it's in the oven." Henry kissed her cheek and went to the sink to wash his hands.

"I think I'll go lie down. Tomorrow we'll need to find something to give to Master Snape for Christmas."

"Alright. Good night, Mum." With that, Hermione carried herself up the steps and collapsed on her bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	9. Marry Christmas part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own, or ever will, the Harry Potter Universe so wonderfully created by J K Rowling. Please do not sue; I highly doubt I could afford it. Thanks for reading!

Part 2

"Give me your hand, Mum and I'll help you up the steps." Henry extended his own fine, strong hand and grabbed his Mum's as they climbed the steps to Snape Manor. Hermione could hardly believe the bone-chilling cold or the snow that seemed to swallow each small step she took.

"We should have worn our thicker boots, Henry, my feet are frozen." Hermione held her cloak closer to her body and clenched the presents she'd brought for the family. She had debated for several days on what to buy Atticus and Harrison, whom she'd planned on buying gifts for even if they hadn't been invited to a Christmas Eve dinner. Atticus was easy to please with his trains and Quidditch, but Harrison proved to be a more complicated adventure. She had no idea what to buy a three year old who was going to turn four soon enough. She had asked Sallie and Sallie explained that Harrison was quite fascinated with Dragons.

"Be care full, Mum, this top step is quite slippery." Hermione walked as gracefully as she could to the top step and knocked on Severus Snape's door.

"Did you remember Michael's gift? I don't have it with the others."

"Yes, I have it right here. And I wish you had let me carry the other gifts. They are too heavy, even if you did shrink them."

"I am not an invalid, sweetheart, I knew I could carry the presents without any help." Hermione sighed and blew the two strand of hair from her face. They had been annoying her the entire journey over.

"I am only trying to help, Mum." At this Hermione turned to meet her young sons face and saw something like hurt in his eyes. She hadn't meant to hurt him, only to assure him that she was capable of everyday tasks still.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be cross. I love you and thank you for trying to be courteous." Hermione smiled sweetly towards him and felt at once that he was only offended briefly.

"Come in from the cold, Hermione and Henry, we've a great fire in the hall." Sallie said as she opened the door to the great home. Hermione remembered momentarily the last time she'd been through the doors and the wonderful paintings she'd seen. Somehow, that time seemed significantly long ago and she wondered if she was entirely the same person walking through the large doors.

"Let me take your cloak, Hermione, it looks quite heavy." Michael said, trying his best to make sure he did not offend his friend's mother.

"Thank you, Michael." Hermione's red robes seemed to flow much easier without the weight of her over-cloak and she was quite thankful to have it off. Before following Sallie and Michael into the hall, Hermione untied her hair from the loose braid she'd prepared for the walk over. Within weeks it would much shorter, as she planned not to have it long with an infant in tow, so she swore to wear it down as much as possible.

"You've brought far too many gifts, Hermione. There will hardly be enough room under the tree." Sallie laughed and took the arm of her friend, hoping they could enjoy a nice dinner and pleasant conversation. Hermione's cheek felt a slight blush, but she laughed just as well hoping the family would like their gifts.

"Let me enlarge them and then we can sit by the fire, I am afraid the walk was colder than I thought it would be." Hermione replied, waving her wand and positioning the presents among the others. She tried to hide the one she was giving Severus, for it's size and appearance seemed to give it away immediately.

"How did the visit go yesterday?" Sallie asked, handing Hermione some warm cocoa.

"Well, she told me everything looked fine. I have to start taking more of the potion, though. I doubt I can stomach anymore than I already do." Hermione answered, her hands resting delicately on the roundness of her abdomen, grateful that she was growing warmer.

"Where is Harrison?"

"Uncle wanted the boys to wrap their presents this year, they should be down soon."

"I wish I could see that scene. Severus explaining to the boys about the delicate art of wrapping presents." Hermione mumbled humorously, sipping her cocoa slowly, watching it refill each time she sipped.

"Actually, he really enjoys Christmas. I remember when I was younger, we all used to come here and spend an entire week having grand snowball fights and roasting marshmallows. Every Christmas morning, he would wear this gaudy red hat and tell us stories about my Dad and his Christmas's." Sallie's face fell slightly, but turned around almost as quickly and looked to the stairs where Harrison and Atticus were rapidly running.

"Slow down boys, you'll hurt yourselves." Sallie barked, sounding more like Severus than Hermione had ever thought possible.

"Where is Uncle Severus?" Sallie asked the two boys who appeared to be absolutely ready to tear open the presents under the tree.

"He's talking with someone in his study." Atticus replied, waving to Hermione from across the room.

"Well, lets go see if Michael and Henry have found the biscuits." Hermione placed her cup on the square table and followed Sallie further into the house. She admired the rustic walls as they walked. She noticed there were several fine paintings of the Renaissance and Reformation. She also noticed his apparent love for books as there were shelves of book placed rather haphazardly around the home.

"Uncle reads more than anyone I know." Sallie said, noticing Hermione's interest in the bookshelves. Sallie patted the sleeve of Hermione's dress robe and then lead her into the large kitchen.

" I see where the biscuits are, then." Sallie said watching Michael and Henry eat the last of the raspberry and orange biscuits.

"You'll ruin your dinner." Sallie added, smiling pleasantly towards her brother.

"Has Uncle Severus come down yet?" Michael asked to women before him who looked rather hungry and put off by their pilfering of biscuits.

"No, he's still upstairs." Henry swallowed the last of his milk and followed the group from the kitchen back to the hall where sounds of laughter could be heard. He wanted to be near his mother when she discovered the secret of this year Christmas. He wanted to see her face when she understood everything that he had helped plan.

"What is your tradition for Christmas Eve, Michael?" Hermione asked as they walked the dark passage to the hall.

"Normally, we have a light dinner and then everyone gets to open presents. Sometimes Uncle tells is a story about Father Christmas and I always look forward to that because he really makes it wonderful, even if I have heard it five or six times before. He hasn't told it in four years, though, so I wouldn't count on him to this year." Hermione noticed the puckered brow on Michael's face and wondered what had caused Severus to stop telling the story. She thought of Severus from school, his readings on potions had always been easy to listen to. His voice was full and deep and she knew he had all the intelligence to truly understand the text.

"Happy Christmas." Hermione heard as she entered the hall. Severus was standing beside the tree placing his presents out for the people around him. He smiled, well it looked as close to a smile as Hermione thought she'd even seen from him.

"You as well." Hermione replied, taking her seat once more by the warm fire. Her feet were beginning to ache with cold, but she would not let this ruin her evening. Everyone seemed so joyous. It had really been too long since she'd enjoyed a nice Christmas. Unfortunately, each year at Christmas time, Wallace, Hermione and Henry would go to Caithness and visit the Stuarts who, by all accounts were good people, made Hermione feel as though she wasn't good enough for their son. They'd never said crosswords to her or outwardly showed any threatening signs of their dislike, but she felt it all the same. Each year she dreaded the trip and each year she returned home wondering why she let Wallace talk her into the trip.

"Dinner is served in the dining hall." Severus said as a small house elf disappeared. Hermione thought she looked quite a bit like the one from her first time in the house.

"Walk with me, Mum." Henry said, taking his mother's arm.

"Are you having a good time?"

"Of course." Henry leaned his head on his mother's shoulder and thought pleasantly of their evening. So far, he'd felt more at home then he had in years. He'd hated Christmas's on Caithness as well.

"I hope everyone has had a safe journey here. Please enjoy your dinner and remember those who cannot be with us tonight." Severus said. Hermione locked eyes with him and wondered why he had said those words. He didn't really strike her as the type to be remorseful of those dead or rather the type to be so openly well, open.

"Yes." Hermione acknowledged, sipping her warm apple cider. She stared down at her plate and thought cheerily of her first Christmas at Hogwarts. The boys, Harry and Ron, had made her feel so comfortable and relaxed when she was so far from her parents. She thought of her father and how he used to come to her bedroom on Christmas morning and give her one special present, just from him. As the grasped her knife to cut the delicate ham, she noticed the sapphire ring on her thumb. The last present her father had ever given her.

"Aren't you hungry, Mum." Henry asked from across the table.

"Of course, dear, I was just thinking about last Christmas." Hermione lied, hoping her son would forget her fleeting melancholy and return to the gaiety of the dinner. For the remainder of the dinner, Hermione noticed that the Snape family was quite comfortable with each other. They carried on funny and brilliant conversations. They were closer then she ever imagined they could be with an Uncle like Severus Snape. She finished her ham and potatoes and swallowed the last of her cider before she noticed that she desperately needed to use the loo.

"Where are the bathrooms?" Hermione asked Sallie as they started to stand to retire to the hall.

"Up the stairs, first on the right." Sallie replied, watching Hermione walk away.

"Is Mum alright?" Henry asked Sallie.

"She's fine." With that, they all went to the hall and waited on Hermione to return before passing out gifts.

Up the stairs, Hermione walked into the bathroom and thought instantly that she had never felt more regal. The sink and bathtub was Venetian tile and the curtains were the finest silk she'd ever seen. There was no possible way this was the children's bathroom. As she headed back down the stairs, she got a bit confused on which way to turn, but started down a path she thought was right. While she walked, she realized she was going the wrong way. There was a light ahead, so Hermione decided to follow it and hope she would end up right. When she came upon the light, she noticed there were more paintings along the wall and looked over them as she walked. Eventually, she came upon one of a man and woman that seemed rather recent. The man was obviously Severus, but the woman she did not recognize.

"Master Severus and Madame Eleanor." Hermione said out loud reading the caption below the painting. The more she looked at the painting, the more she realized it was in fact quite old and that Severus looked no more than twenty. She also noticed it was a muggle painting as the people weren't moving. Before turning to leave, she glanced one more time at the painting and resigned to ask Sallie about it before leaving that night.

"We thought you were going to be late." Hermione heard someone say as she neared the hall.

"It's hard to apparate in this weather, I swear." Ron...It was Ron's voice she heard.

"Welcome back, Hermione." Sallie said.

"Sorry, I got turned around." Hermione met Ron's eyes and asked questions without opening her mouth.

"We saved you the best seat, Hermione." Atticus said, taking her hand and leading her to the chair closet to the fire. Hermione's eyes never left Ron's.

"Young men, you may pass out the gifts now." Severus said, waving his hand towards them and then folding them squarely across his chest. He looked over to his niece and hoped she was having a lovely evening.

"How are Molly and Arthur, Ron." Hermione asked, smoothing the front of her robes.

"They are great, send their love to you and Henry. George and Fred were passing the gifts out to the kids when I left." Ron moved his arms slowly from their resting place and moved over to Hermione.

"Why are you here, Ron?" Hermione asked, feeling a little awkward, out of place.

"I have a surprise for you. But I don't want you to be angry." Ron paused and swallowed roughly. "I was here earlier talking to Snape."

"Why would that make me angry?"

"I have been lying to you for a while now. I am, that is to say, I feel certain that, I well..."

"What is it Ron?"

"I can't live with you for much longer." Hermione's eyes opened wide and looked up slowly around the room to the boys and then Severus who seemed so blissful watching his nephews.

"Why, what has happened. Have I offended you?" Hermione asked, wondering why her friend seemed so happy to be leaving her and why he had talked with Severus.

"I am...that is I have asked...well I have asked Sallie to marry me." Hermione shoved him quickly away from her in a brief lapse of judgement as she thought he was going to say something else.

"What?" Hermione asked, not completely understanding what he was saying.

"I have been dating Sallie since the beginning of summer. I mean it was casual at first. I was visiting Fred and George one day and I saw her walking up the road. I thought she was beautiful. When she came to apply to work, I was a little shaken because I thought you would see my obvious affection, and I didn't mean to keep it from you. She wasn't sure what she wanted and I didn't want to make her feel guilty or feel sorry for me. I asked Snape for hand today, this very evening." Ron smiled, feeling for the first time that he had finally expressed his real feelings and emotions.

"You've been dating this whole time?"

"Yes. Please don't be angry, Hermione." Hermione thought back to all the times she'd been late to work and found them chatting at the desk. The sweet looks they'd shared while shelving books. Ron had finally found real love.

"Why would I be upset, this is glorious? Magnificent. Why would you think I would be upset?"

"I don't know, because I haven't been truthful for over six months." Hermione hugged Ron snugly to her body.

"I am happy for you." She whispered in his ear. When they'd parted, Sallie smiled towards her and winked at Ron. It seemed so obvious now.

"When is the wedding, then?" Hermione asked the two now side by side.

"February some time." Sallie replied. Hermione nodded in acknowledgement and looked to the pile of presents at her side.

"Seems I wasn't the only one who brought too many presents." Hermione exclaimed, meeting Severus's eye once more. He looked towards her from beside the tree, the lights illuminating his eyes. His face softened before her as his eyes turned to Sallie and Ron as they held hands and talked mischievously to one another. Harrison brought the last gift to his Uncle and returned to his mother's side.

"As tradition, the youngest may open a present first." Henry took a present from his pile and began to open it slowly. Hermione was glad to see a book, something he could always use.

"Did you sneak this in, Mum?" Henry asked, showing her Quidditch Through the Ages.

"Yes, I did." Hermione smiled, pink coming to her cheeks again. Henry stood and walked to his Mum and hugged her as if he hadn't seen her in days.

"Only a child of Hermione's could enjoy a book so much." Ron said.

"Now your turn Hermione." Hermione lifted a soft package and tore it open leisurely.

"That's from Mum." Ron said as Hermione pulled out the pint sized Weasley sweater.

"She swears you're having a girl, so it's maroon. But, if you have a boy, you can change it." Hermione turned the sweater around so that the letter E faced her.

"And what does she suppose I will be calling my daughter?"

"I think she bewitched it to change when you name the baby. She told me when I was grabbing it that she remembered you used to love the name Eleanor." Hermione folded the sweater up but noticed that everyone began picking presents except Severus, who looked rather forlorn. She wondered if the Eleanor in the portrait had been his wife and if so, what had happened to her.

"Thank you, Hermione." Harrison said from across the room. The robes she'd bought him with Welsh Green dragons on it were over his head before she could reply.

"I thought green would be appropriate seeing as he is quite likely to be in Slytherin." Hermione said, faking disgust while saying Slytherin. Ron and Sallie watched Harrison run swiftly around the room and then stop suddenly beside Hermione to wrap her in a large hug.

"I made you something." He said, handing her a gift-wrapped in orange paper.

"It's lovely, Harrison." Hermione replied, placing the yarn and wool necklace around her neck.

"Open another gift, Uncle, you have plenty more to go." Hermione held onto Harrison as he opened several gifts from Ron, Sallie, and his nephews. He had a couple more to open when he came to hermione's present. She'd went into Hogsmeade to find something unique for him, but couldn't find anything that seemed appropriate. Defeated and dejected, she had returned home to lie down when she thought of something perfect o give him.

"Uncle Severus is too slow." Atticus said, as he opened the last of his gifts, a muggle electric train from Hermione and Henry.

"_The Art of Painting_. Vermeer." Severus said, his voice low and almost unrecognisable. Hermione only knew what he was saying because she had given him the painting.

"How did you come by this painting?" He asked sternly, almost frightening Hermione as he had in her school days.

"It was my Mother's. She's quite ill and since I don't have room for the painting or time to care for it in my home, I thought you would enjoy it." Hermione answered, a little offended by his question. Hermione looked to the woman in the painting, remembering tracing her fingers across the crown of leaves on her head and the trombone in her right arm. Wondering what the man, his face towards her and out of view, was saying to the beautiful lady.

"Thank you, Hermione." Severus said, bringing Hermione out of her daydream. She met his charcoal eyes and smiled. He maintained a grin in her direction for longer then he had liked, then returned to his nephews. Hermione began opening the rest of her presents, every now and then looking to Severus who was studying the painting as if he had never seen it before.

"Thank you all for so many lovely gifts." Hermione said, her arms full of presents. She shrank the sweater, the volume of books from Ron, the box of chocolates from Michael, the stuffed lion from Atticus, and the perfume from Sallie.

"Open this one, Mum." Henry said, pointing to a small, rectangular package. She tore the paper open and slowly lifted the lid of a velvet box.

"Henry, how did you find this?" Hermione asked, taking the silver locket out of the jewellery case and opening the hearts.

"I couldn't find one exactly like the one Grandpa Granger gave you, but I thought this one was pretty." Henry beamed in the direction of his Mum.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Hermione smiled seeing a picture of Henry at seven in one side.

"I thought you would like to put a picture of my brother or sister in the other side." Hermione hugged her son again and opened her last present from Severus. She was almost afraid of what he might give her. She pulled the paper a part slowly and saw before her a red velvet book of some type. As she opened the page, she noticed all the pages were blank. He'd given her a journal.

"It never empties. The pages appear as you need them. I thought you might like something to write in." Hermione's eyes glistened at his thoughtfulness as she ran her fingers over her name. It was etched in gold across the top of the cover.

"Thank you, Severus." Hermione said walking over to him and squeezing his hand. It was the most affection she thought he could handle, though she could've hugged him tightly as she'd hugged everyone else.

"And thank you for inviting us as well. Henry and I have enjoyed ourselves." Hermione let go of his hand and went back to her chair where Harrison was slowly falling asleep. She cuddled with him on the chair and hoped Severus was going to tell his story about Christmas.

"I realize I haven't told the Christmas story in four years, but I believe tonight I should. We are quite lucky to be together for Christmas as some families are utterly torn." Severus sighed and sat abruptly on the large couch in between Atticus and Michael.

"Once, before any of us were born, there lived a very old man in the Highlands of Scotland. He was very kind and good and loved children. He and his wife were unable to have children of their own, so he would always bring little presents to his nieces and nephews who loved him very much. He continued the tradition for many years, but soon found that there were many children in the world that didn't have presents like his nieces and nephews. He vowed to help bring all of the children presents, even if it took him all night. Because he was a wizard, he could deliver presents in one night..." Severus continued his story, Atticus and Harrison (now awake) waiting for every word. He told the story so eloquently and with so much feeling that Hermione could hardly believe he was the same person from her childhood. As he moved further in the story, Hermione wondered who had told him the story.

"When the wizard was quite older, his wife passed away and he was left all alone. There are people who believe that he stopped caring about the children when his wife died, but every year, there is a special present under all the trees in the world from him. Some say he still lives in the highlands, making presents and spending his days awaiting the next Christmas." Severus folded his hands over his lap and sighed, Hermione thought he seemed more relaxed.

"The boys must have found that boring." He said, seeing Atticus and Harrison asleep on the sofa.

"They were tired, Uncle, don't be offended."

"I was merely teasing, Sarah." Sallie stood and pulled Harrison from the floor where he had slowly fallen.

"Goodnight and Happy Christmas, Hermione." Sallie said, giving her a light hug. Hermione tapped Henry, who stood and grabbed the gifts.

"Happy Christmas, Ron, Severus." Hermione smiled softly towards the two men and wrapped her cloak around her still chilled body.

"Let me accompany you home, Madame Stuart, it has continued to snow while we've been in doors." Hermione nodded and allowed Severus to walk with she and Henry back to their home. The snow came up to her shins as she walked, taking large steps through the pure white snow.

"We will resume practice on Saturday, Henry. Do plan on being on time, I do not suffer those who cannot follow a schedule." Severus said, the cold in his voice returning.

"Yes, sir." Henry replied, the large bag of gifts weighing him down.

"Do you know where Ron and Sallie are planning on having their ceremony?" Hermione asked, braving the worst depth of snow, her feet numb.

"I believe they would like to get married here, in Hogsmeade. I honestly hoped they would marry at Hogwarts where my brother was married, but I assume they have their reasons." Severus retorted, his pace quickening en route for Hermione's door. She could hardly keep up with him, her legs were a great deal shorter than his.

"Hogwarts is lovely in February. I was married in September." Hermione said, thinking of Wallace again, sad to be without him but happy all the same.

"At Hogwarts?" He asked, slowing down a bit.

"Yes, after I graduated. I was married on the grounds by the pond. There's this great photo of Wallace and me and the giant squid's tentacles in the back." Henry thanked Severus and headed inside the home, leaving Hermione drudging down the hill to the door. She began to slip a little, but Severus offered his hand and she steadied herself.

"I'm a bit front heavy, sorry."

"Do not apologise for your condition." He replied, a tone of something she could not place. She wondered how Severus felt about children, but then thought about his wonderful face at his young nephews.

"Happy Christmas, Severus, and thank you for including Henry and me in your dinner, we..." He put his hand up to her and she stopped.

"Please stop thanking me, Hermione, I do not respond well to kindness." Severus bowed to her and began to walk back to his own home.

"We needed it greatly." She finished, as he stalked away.

"You really don't know when to cease talking, do you?" He asked, stopping and turning to her. He sneered at her, but not in a menacing way, a sort of smile for him.

"I have to have the last word, sorry, it's a habit." Hermione replied.

"Yes, well, Happy Christmas. Do get inside and warm up, you look positively frozen."

"Yes, sir." She said, noticing how young he looked when he was snarky. She turned the knob of her door and began to enter,

"Please be careful, I don't want to wake tomorrow and find that you've frozen to death!" She called out.

"Vampires don't freeze." He called back, recalling the creature many of his students believed he was. He continued to walk through the snow and turned only once to find that Hermione had went inside.

"Sleep well, Henry." Hermione said, kissing her son's cheek. She went to her bed, folded back her covers and settled in for a long nights sleep. Only when she'd looked out the window to see Severus turn up his driveway did she remember that she wanted to ask Sallie about Eleanor Snape. With a heavy sigh and a light heart, she covered her head with the blankets and hoped Henry had enjoyed his Christmas Eve. She whispered 'nox' and as the lights went out, her baby decided to kick her square in the ribs. It was going to be a long night, again.

Author's Note:

Moldanubikum: it's so odd that you wanted me to give Ron a girlfriend when I had planned Sallie and his relationship from the beginning. I agree, he needs something less complicated. I will expand on their relationship more soon.

Makalani Astral: Sorry it doesn't seem right...I think I will have to explain some of it with harry involved. Thanks for the review!


	10. A Different Present

Disclaimer: not mine, i own nothing, not making money. Thank you to all my reviewers and sorry this has taken so long.

Chapter 8: A different present

The next morning, Hermione and Henry arose to a winter wonderland outside their home. Before opening presents or eating breakfast, Hermione and Henry went outdoors to enjoy the supreme elation they shared on having a white Christmas. As the last of the snowflakes fell, Hermione watched her son make a snow angel and delighted in the fact that he seemed happy, even if his father and mother had died. There was always a sense that your parents would never die as a child and yet Henry had lost both of his before thirteen. She sat squarely on the bench and watched him through glossy, iced eyes and wondered if he was missing Wallace as much as she was. Images of their winters together flooded her brain, had there ever been a winter without him? Before kicking a bit of snow from her boots, she caught Henry's eye, but turned quickly from him not willing to let him see her hopelessness. She didn't want him to know of her melancholy because it was weak and she never wanted to appear weak in front of him. And then suddenly, a great large cold wetness stung her cheek.

"You don't know what you've started, Henry!" Hermione called out as Henry ran behind the shrubs. She quickly cast a warming spell on her boots and ducked behind the edge of the porch. Henry tossed a couple more snowballs her way, but tried not to hit her stomach.

"Just wait, Henry Horace Webster Stuart, I will have my revenge!" Hermione ducked inside and admitted defeat to her twelve-year-old son and waited for his clumsy arrival in the kitchen.

"I was only trying to make you laugh, Mum." Henry said as he entered the kitchen and discarding his soiled boots.

"Go freshen up and we'll have a bit of breakfast." Hermione mixed the bowl of biscuit batter and sprinkled some flour out on the cutting board. She loved making biscuits, it made her feel motherly and old fashioned. And if there was ever a doubt in anyone's mind, homemade biscuits always tasted better without magic.

"There's a letter for you on the windowsill, Mum."

"Who's it from, dear?" Henry tepidly brought the letter to his Mum, the handwriting on the envelope all too familiar. Hermione absentmindedly took the letter from Henry and set it next to her pans as she prepared the rest of the biscuits.

"I am positively covered in flower, would you open it for me?" Hermione asked Henry wondering why she seemed to obviously shaken.

"Hermione,

It's Christmas and I hope you and Henry are well. They started the last round of chemotherapy I am willingly going to try last week, but it has been unsuccessful. I am writing for several reasons, the main being to tell you how much I love you and miss you. When you received your Hogwarts letter, I know I was horribly shaken and scared that I was losing my darling girl. Your father was always more optimistic than I was, but then look where optimism got him. Sorry, that was rude and I strive never to be rude in front of you.

How is Henry? I hope he is doing well in school and that he is making friends. Is the pregnancy going smoothly? I would like to come to visit one last time before the inevitable. When would be an appropriate time?

With Love, Mum."

Hermione snatched the letter from Henry's hand and threw it in the fire.

"I didn't know Grandmum was ill." Henry said, hurt and sadness in his young voice. He hugged Hermione tightly around her ever-increasing waist and kissed her soft cheek.

"I didn't know it was already in the last stages. When she was here, she said she was ill, but I never imagined it to be so critical." Hermione's eyes felt heavy with tears, she didn't understand where all of her emotion had come from and she rather didn't like the feeling. Her relationship with her mother had soured since her father had passed.

"Let's eat some breakfast and we'll floo over to see her, okay?" Henry walked to the cabinet and grabbed two plates for the breakfast.

"Happy Christmas, Mum." Henry said before filling his mouth with biscuits and jam. Hermione smiled, returned the sentiment, and ate her meal. She felt altogether confused on whether she wanted to see her Mum again, but knew if she didn't go see her she would regret the decision.

"We'll open the remainder of the gifts when we come home." Hermione stepped into the green flames and spoke, "Wyeth Granger's", but nothing happened. She stepped out of the fireplace and looked both up the floo and then to the bottom.

"How long has it been since we've flooed someone, dear?"

"I flooed when we first moved, but after that we always walked everywhere."

"I can't apparate, maybe Severus will allow us to use his floo." Hermione looked out towards Severus's house and sighed. She didn't want to interrupt his day with his family or their morning routine, but she needed to move quickly to her mother's home.

"Wrap your cloak around tighter, it's positively frozen out there." Hermione's tears ebbed slightly, but continued as she thought about her Mum and Dad. She would be completely without family when her Mum passed. She would know the sting of being an orphan, to be like Henry without blood relatives aside from quite distant ones that cared little about anything. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, one of Wallace's with his initials in the tiniest corner of the fabric, and pulled the hood of her cloak tighter around her face. Before she reached Snape manor, she slid slightly on some ice, but regained her composure before knocking on the grand door. Although she had willed them to stop, her tears would not cease. She felt naked before her classmates, she felt too open for ridicule. Adults are not supposed to cry like children, but she was going to lose her mother and for that she could cry.

"Yes, Madame." The little house elf said opening the door.

"I would like to see the Master of this house." Hermione replied, coldly.

"Just a moment." Hermione waited on the doorstep, Henry entertaining himself with an icicle hanging from the awning.

"Why would our floo not work, Mum?" Henry asked, thinking of the many times they'd used the floo when he was younger before his Hogwarts days.

"I don't know, darling, perhaps I just need to have it checked." Hermione's shifted her weight to her left leg and felt a sharp pain travel from her ankle to her thigh, perhaps the ice had done more than she thought.

"Madame Stuart, how may I help you so **early** this morning?" Hermione heard as she lifted the hem of her dress and cloak to look over her ankle. The snarky professor's voice had returned.

"Pardon the earliness of this visit, Sir, but my floo is not functional and I was hoping we might be able to use yours." Hermione wiped her eyes again, her tears growing far worse the longer he sneered at her. She wondered where the man of the previous night had gone.

"Where do you need to go so desperately at this early hour?" He asked, his eyes slimming to tiny slits. He couldn't bare a woman crying. He rather wanted to return to his breakfast and forget about the previous nights pleasantries if at all possible.

"My mother's, Sir." Hermione shifted her weight back to her other foot and then turned to see why Henry had gone quiet.

"We've just begun breakfast and as the fireplace we use to floo is in the breakfast room, it would not be reasonable to shoot floo powder into the air. Perhaps you can come back later, when we have all dressed and finished our morning routines." He replied, not wanting company that morning.

"That will be quite alright, Sir, I will just apparate." Hermione replied, her eyes not able to meet his. Why wouldn't he just let her use the floo?

"Mum, you can't apparate. And grandmum needs us now."

"Come along, Henry, we'll have to leave from our home." Hermione caught Henry's arm and they walked towards their home. She used him as a crutch as the swelling and pain in her ankle had worsened. She couldn't imagine why someone would be so cruel as to turn her out from their home, to not let them use something so insignificant as the floo. As they walked, Hermione's emotions became overwhelming, she couldn't see through the air as her tears had become torrential.

"Henry, I need to change my dress, you can go ahead and open the presents under the tree." Hermione said as they stepped onto the porch and then through the door. The more she thought about Severus, the more she wondered why she had hoped to see a different man, and the man she thought he really was. She tried to climb the first steps, but her foot gave quickly.

"Bloody foot, mucking up everything." She swore beneath her breath. She leaned down to examine her foot more thoroughly and realized it was worse then she originally thought, but before she could call out to Henry a swift blackness enveloped her and she fell forward.

Henry walked back into the foyer to see if Hermione needed help climbing the steps, but instead saw her sprawled atop the stairs like a throw rug.

"Mum?" He called out to her, shaking her head between his trembling arms. He didn't know what to do. The floo didn't work and the owl would take too long. He sat beside her, thinking as Austen the kneazle rubbed against his thigh.

"Go away, you daft cat, I need to think quickly." Brusquely he stood and covered her in a light blanket to keep her warm and then ran to Snape Manor. He vowed not to return until someone helped his Mum.

"Help, please!" He screamed knocking the door with fervour. He continued to knock until he heard light footsteps approach the door.

"Henry, what has you knocking the door this early?" Sallie asked, looking to the boy who was obviously distraught.

"Mum has collapsed and I don't know what to do. She slipped a bit on the ice coming over here earlier and I think her ankle is broken. She wouldn't stop crying..." Henry stopped talking as Severus came to the door.

"When I said later, I meant around lunch time, Mr. Stuart, not ten minutes." Severus barked, his eyes returning to the slits they were not long before.

"I don't know what to do Sallie, she won't wake up."

"Hold on, dear, I'll grab my cloak." Sallie walked swiftly past her Uncle and into the closet inside the hall. She returned with speed and followed Henry back to Hermione's house. Severus watched in awe as they disappeared into the white nothingness. As he stood at the door and watched them, he finally heard Henry's words,

'She won't wake up'. He yelled for Michael and then went to Hermione's house as well.

"I covered her so she wouldn't get cold. She told me to open the presents under the tree that she was going to change. I never heard her climb the stairs so I came to check on her." Sallie felt Hermione's head and surprisingly, it was cold.

"She hasn't a fever."

"What was she upset about?" Sallie asked, going to the kitchen to brew some tea.

"Grandmum has cancer. She wrote us about it and said she was dying. Mum seemed upset about it because we couldn't floo to go see her. Something's up with it so we walked to your house to see if we could floo from there, but Master Snape said it was too early." Henry watched Sallie towel Hermione's face and cast a spell he didn't recognize. Before he could ask about the spell, Severus Snape came through the door and cast the spell again.

"I've tried that, Uncle, she won't awake." Sallie pulled the blanket from Hermione's body and lifted her with another spell and walked with her up the stairs. Henry followed and pointed her to Hermione's room.

"She's in shock, I think. Her hormones are so strong and her emotions so strong that she's just over taxed herself. I'll contact Ron and Harry and see if they can come by." Sallie walked out of the room leaving Severus and Henry string at the woman, her face still red from crying.

"Mum, please wake up, I can't do this without you." Henry whispered in her ear, trying his best not to cry himself.

"She is exhausted, Mr. Stuart, not dying." Henry eyed his superior and wondered what his Mum would want him to say in return.

"Not her, no, but her Mum is and that's why we needed the floo. Mum's twisted her ankle walking to your bloody house and now she's conked out. I have no one, Master Snape, no one except her and I'd like to keep her." Henry scared himself with his words, but he didn't want the man before him to misinterpret the situation. He loved his Mum and wanted her well even if no one else was willing to help him.

"You should not speak to your superiors in that manner, Mr. Stuart." Severus glared at the boy wondering where his sudden animosity had come from.

"Excuse my speech, Sir, I did not mean to be foul, only to explain my situation." Henry placed a pillow under Hermione's ankle and waited for the usual remark from Severus.

"She is fortunate to have you around, Henry." Severus said moving beside the boy and whispering incantations to heal Hermione's ankle. Henry watched in wonderment as the man who had seemed so cruel before healed his mother's ankle as if he truly cared for her. He couldn't understand how someone could one minute seem so harsh and awkward could become so compassionate and adoring in the next.

"What are you doing to her?" Harry asked coming into the room. He eyed Severus suspiciously and walked to Hermione's bedside.

"Healing her ankle, Mr. Potter." Severus stepped away from Hermione and then the room. He chose to remain out of contact with Harry Potter as much as possible and rather thought waking to see Harry was more affable then to see him. He recalled the morning and noted that perhaps he could've been more accommodating. He could've just allowed her to use his floo, but he was afraid her idea of his personality was becoming tarnished and he just couldn't have someone believing he was more than a sadistic bastard.

"Hermione, it's Harry, please wake up." Harry took her hands in his and wondered what could've caused her to go into a self-imposed coma of sorts. After caressing her hands for a bit, he ran his hands through her hair and down her arms. He loved the feel of her skin, but he noticed it seemed rather cold.

"Henry needs you to wake up, Hermione." He said sternly. He pulled her blankets around her body and crawled beside her on the bed.

"You can't stay asleep all day. I've brought presents and cake. Chocolate cake with loads of sprinkles and a cherry. Please, Hermione, wake up." The need in his voice shocked even himself. For months now, he'd wanted to be exactly where he was, lying beside Hermione, being intimately close to her. Months, years in fact. He'd loved Hermione for a lifetime and had watched her marry someone else. Not that he hadn't married someone else either, but he knew Hermione's wishes and knew deep down that it wouldn't have worked then. Then when he was still 'Harry Potter', wizard who had saved them all.

"You look lovely today, Hermione. When we were in school, I never noticed you because we were such good friends, but then in seventh year, it all changed. You became beautiful to me and then married someone else." He wondered if she could hear him or if she would be shocked by his words.

"Susan is having another baby. He's due in July and she wants to name him James. She doesn't understand that I don't want him to be ridiculed or treated poorly because of his name. Veronica doesn't want a brother, but I know she'll like him eventually. I want you to be his godmother and Ron his godfather. Susan got to choose Veronica's, so it's my turn this time." Harry rubbed Hermione's shoulders and hoped stimulation would awaken her.

"I know you don't carry the same feelings for me and I will never pressure you to return them, I just had to tell you even if you can't hear me. I love you, Hermione and I know someday you'll see that it's not some passing fancy; I care about you more than anyone else, aside from Veronica. I am going to let Ron take over when he gets here so you don't think I am staying because of my affections. I hope you don't feel odd or awkward around me, pretend as though I've said nothing and we'll be friends like before. I can't stand losing you again." With that, Harry kissed her lips softly and rose from the bed to find Henry.

"See you tomorrow." He said, releasing her hand, not feeling the slight tug of hers as it fell.

"Mum's still out." Henry said as Sallie walked through the door several hours later. Henry sat next to her, waiting like everyone else. No one could explain why she wouldn't wake.

"In the morning everything will be better." Sallie said ruffling his hair. Before turning the light out, Henry followed Sallie down the stairs and made some cocoa.

"She was hurt by Master Snap's attitude this morning." Henry said.

"And she misses Wallace." Sallie added. They made to the stairs once more, but stopped as a crack was heard outside the door.

"Henry, dear, please help me up the stairs." Henry's face brightened as Marjorie Granger walked through the door with Master Snape.

"Yes, Grandmum." Henry took her arm and helped her to Hermione's room.

"She cannot stay long as she needs medicine in two hours." Severus said unable to meet his niece's eye.

"Hermione will appreciate this greatly."

"It's less than she deserves." He replied bringing his hand to his temple and rubbing it in circular motions.

"Am I to believe you have no ulterior motive in fetching Mrs. Granger?" Sallie asked, grabbing her Uncle's cloak and hanging it on the rack.

"My motives are not your concern, Sarah." He bowed slightly to her and headed to the stairs.

"You care for her, Uncle, I know you do. She will know it soon as well." He paused slightly on the stairs, but continued unfazed by his niece's comment and made it to Hermione's door. As he opened the door, he saw Marjorie lean down and kiss her daughter's face.

"Thank you, Professor." Marjorie said. He nodded and sat in the chair farthest from the bed. Henry walked to his side and watched his Mum and Grandmum hoping everything was alright.

"She will wake soon." Marjorie said, feeling hermione's skin and noticing it was growing warmer. Severus nodded once more and stood, he didn't want Hermione to see him when she awoke.

"I made cocoa in the kitchen, Sir, if you'd like some." Henry said as he watched Severus leave the room.

"That would be sufficient, Henry." Turning to meet the boys face, Severus nodded and hoped that was apology enough for her son. His eyes lingered on Hermione's a moment more and saw her eyes flutter open before closing the door and walking to the kitchen to drink the cocoa.


	11. Orphans of the World Unite

Disclaimer: I do not own the harry potter universe, don't sue me.

Author's note: This is a short one, sorry. I have had some trouble with editing. I wanted to let those of you reading this fic know that it is not a work in progress, i have finished the story aside from editing. Unfortunately, i don't have a great deal of time to edit. I will post more of the story when i can!!!! Thanks again for all my reviews...they are really great!

Chapter 9:Orphans of the World Unite

"I've taken Mrs. Granger back to London, Madame Stuart. She preferred the return." Severus mumbled as he looked in on Hermione quite a bit later that night after everyone else had been through. He honestly just wanted to rest her mind about her Mum, but then, he hadn't told her the worst news just yet. She tore her eyes from the book she had been pretending to read to make people leave and saw for once a sincere look on Severus Snape's face. She pulled a bookmark from her shelf and motioned for him to sit in the chair by the bed, but he didn't (couldn't) move.

"I'm afraid I've caused quite a bit of senseless trouble today, Severus." Hermione said, trying to raise herself up on her elbows.

"You see, I've been so overly emotional lately and this morning, I just couldn't think straight or forget the littlest petty things. I hope I haven't ruined your holiday." She tried with effort again to raise herself but unceremoniously, she fell back to the bed again. A sigh heavy with guilt escaped her parched lips and she melted into the bed.

"I thank you for everything, but it seems I have not recovered my strength as of yet and in that light, it would probably benefit you more to leave."

"I rather like watching you struggle, it reminds me of your younger days." Her eyes faced him immediately boring into them as if they were inches from her face. But, instead of the normal sneer and squint, she saw a joking face, a smile almost.

"I see that took care of your self-pity." He finally stepped into the room and sat stiffly in the chair on her left side.

"The ankle is healed, but I fear you'll have to remain in bed for at least the morning." He added as he sat in the chair.

"I'm sure I was horrible" She said, not exactly to him, but to the air in fact.

"Not horrible, you were unconscious after all." His hands rested on his knees as he thought of a thousand ways to tell her that her Mum had died soon after she was returned to her home. He thought of Marjorie Granger's face and her last words, 'Tell Hermione I will miss her'. Such predictable sentiments from someone who obviously knew nothing of her daughter or her daughter's life. Before he could change his mind, before the reality of what he was doing set in, he reached with his pale cold hands to grasp Hermione's and sighed.

"Your Mum passed soon after I returned her." He had rehearsed it so many times in his mind, yet the sting was all too palpable, he couldn't escape her eyes.

"Was she in pain? She didn't act like she was here, but I was afraid." Hermione asked, searching his eyes for reassurance. She was surprised he was the one telling her the news, that he hadn't asked Ron or Sallie to tell her.

"She was in no pain. She asked me to tell you that she will miss you." Hermione took in a deep breath, so hard and deep that she felt heavy with the air filling every inch of her lungs. His hands were cold.

"Thank you for bringing her here, Severus, I needed to let go of her." Hermione whispered, her eyes still on his.

"It was the least I could do." He maintained the contact with her for a minute or more and then released her hands softly onto the comforter. He had never been good at comforting people and he rather hated situations such as those that required him to comfort someone. The windows shook with the force of the wind just feet from them and broke the bitter silence.

"I contacted the nurse that was living with her and then the authorities. The burial will be in two days." He faced the window now, not wanting to suffer her crying again.

"I've contacted Albus as well to make sure Henry has a time allowance on his return to school."

"You've really thought of it all, haven't you?" She garbled as she finally had enough energy to pull herself up from the squashy bed. The tea beside her bed had gone cold, like his hands, his hands on hers

"I hate to ask you this, as personal as it is, but I rather require the loo and cannot make it on my own." Hermione swung her legs over the edge of the bed and tried to put pressure on her ankle and at first it seemed much better until an awkward pain shot through her leg. At least she would be better in the morning.

"Can you put your arm around my shoulder?"

"Yes, but bend down a little." She placed her arm around his strong, yet lean shoulder and tried to pull herself up to his side. It was tricky and all together quite uncomfortable, but eventually they made it to her bathroom some eight feet away.

"Thank you." Quietly, she moved to the door to close a little and tried to use the restroom. She became quite aware of his presence. Was he listening?

"I'll go warm your tea." He said chastely and flew down the stairs as quickly as possible.

"How did you get back to bed?" He asked as he entered the room and saw her sitting Indian style on the bed, her strength returning in droves.

"A little trick Ron taught me."

"There were two kinds and since there were no labels, I chose the lighter one." Hermione smiled and thanked him.

"Sorry, I keep thanking you, I know how much you loathe that."

"I don't loathe being thanked, Hermione, I despise the feeling of constantly being thanked and being without words to reply." He took the seat again.

"I should feel worse, I should feel mournful. I have lost my Mum." Hermione sipped her tea and rubbed her stomach absentmindedly, she wondered if all pregnant women did it.

"We all lose our parents eventually."

"I wasn't pitying myself, thank you, I was bringing the situation to life. I should be mourning her, yet I know she has chosen this day to die. I knew it this morning and that is why I had to go to her and find closure."

"Were you not close?" Severus asked, though he knew the answer to that question without asking it.

"Hardly. She was never very supportive of my being at Hogwarts. I truly believe she hoped I would 'grow out' of magic." She paused, taking another sip of tea and continuing the slow semicircles around her belly, she noticed the baby was restless as well. "I loved her like every child loves their parents even if they are cruel or abusive, not that she was ever abusive, but cruel definitely. I will be sad to see her without life and remorseful that my children have lost another grandparent."

"You should rest more." Severus stood slowly and looked down at the woman, her appearance hadn't changed much since her last year of school but she seemed more complete. He noticed as a student that she was always rushed and without proper rest, not that he was ever lenient on her.

"I've done all the sleeping I can today."

"There was obviously a need for that rest, Madame Stuart, or you wouldn't have remained unconscious for so long."

"Henry didn't get to have Christmas again this year."

"Henry is resting on the couch downstairs, would you like him to come up here?" Hermione went to the edge of the bed and tried to stand again, her ankle was fine, but there was still a small pain. As she pulled herself up, she braced herself with the bedpost as took a few slow steps to the door.

"I'll manage down the stairs." She replied. He scowled, opened the door, and hoped that when they completed the stairs, he would be free to leave.

"Henry, would you boil some water please?" Hermione called from the stairs, thinking some hot chocolate would be quite nice.

"It's four in the morning, I highly doubt he is still awake." Severus sneered.

"I didn't realize it was so late or rather early. Please go home, take rest. I appreciate all you have done for me, but I know you're ready to leave." She faced him when she spoke and then turned to the last step, the step where she'd fallen earlier. As she hoped slightly onto the chilled wooden floor, she noticed the house was dreadfully quiet. A small thump into her ribs disturbed her unhappy thought and she stopped. Sometimes, though it was growing harder, she forgot that she harboured a child in her abdomen.

"Let me get to the kitchen." She said to the baby, glad it was active but still needing the stillness to walk.

"I'm not standing in your way." Severus replied to her comment.

"I was referring to the baby, it won't stop kicking me in the ribs. Usually it means it's hungry, but I couldn't possibly eat right now." Hermione continued her slow walk to the kitchen and then to the icebox to find something she might be able to choke down.

"Contact the manor if you are in need of assistance. The floo is not working so come to the manor on Tuesday to go to London, if you need to." Severus buttoned the top of his cloak and charmed his boots to be waterproof.

"Thank you again." She said, but he was gone before she finished. She couldn't imagine how uncomfortable he had been taking care of her. Though he hadn't been there the whole night, she knew it was he that had healed her ankle and made sure someone was with her while she was unconscious. Before attempting to climb the stairs once more, she looked in on Henry. His face seemed worried in his sleep and she hoped that she hadn't ruined another holiday.

"I love you, Henry." She whispered, kissing his forehead. She looked to the top of the stairs, but decided they were too challenging for the present. Instead, she looked to the free sofa and slowly rested against the cushions. She wondered why it had been so difficult to make herself wake up. She'd heard everyone talking around her, Harry's odd and sentimental confession, Ron's words of comfort and Sallie's sobs, but she hadn't been able to reply. She heaved a sigh and turned to face Henry from across the room. He looked so like his father in the pale light of the room.

And with ease, she fell into a deep sleep.

"You really shouldn't sleep on the couch, you'll ruin your back."

"I wasn't there for long, besides, I rather like the couch, it's more comfortable than trying to sleep on that infernal bed with you taking both sides." Hermione rubbed her eyes and realized she was not in her living room, but a room she didn't recognize at all.

"Come into the bathroom and help me with this, I'm trying to be muggle today." Hermione stood and noticed her belly was down to its' original size and that she was wearing emerald green dress robes.

"Why are you wearing muggle clothes to the reception?" Hermione asked, wondering why she knew Wallace was going to a reception.

"For Albus, dear, he wanted us to wear muggle attire, remember?" Hermione slowly turned the handle on the door and walked into the fogged bathroom. She glanced in the mirror before looking to her husband and saw that she'd aged a bit probably five or so years.

"Is this right?" He turned to face her, only his face wasn't Wallace's, it was Severus's.

"No, the small bit goes in the back." Hermione reached forward to the tie and fixed his collar. He looked down on her with softened eyes, eyes like she'd seen at Christmas when he was watching his family.

"Thank you, Hermione." He leaned down to her and kissed her lips.

"We're going to be late, Severus." Hermione turned from him, but felt his hand on her shoulder.

"I hope this doesn't take all night, I've a surprise for you later." Hermione smiled and smoothed his hand against his shoulder.

Then, Hermione heard a light rapping on the pillow beside he head. She was awake quickly.

"Mum, are you awake yet?" Henry asked standing over her lifeless form.

"I am now, dear." Henry smiled mischievously and tore the blanket from her body.

"I have a present for you that you didn't open yet." Henry placed the small package on his Mum's lap and waited for her to sit up.

"I told you not to buy me anything this year, Henry." Hermione beamed at her son and tore the edges of the package away and looked down on the present.

"It's not anything much. I bought the book in Diagon alley when we went to get my owl. It's only got five pictures, but I thought we could fill it with more from Christmas and stuff." Hermione looked through the pictures Henry had placed in the photo album. There were two from his Quidditch practice with Severus and Michael. There was one of the house, of Micah flying off with a letter on her leg and the last was of Hermione asleep in her bedroom.

"I took that one because you looked peaceful." Henry said. Hermione squeezed him in her arms and tried to stand.

"I am peaceful, darling." Hermione walked slowly to the kitchen boiled some water for tea. She couldn't shake the dream, that she'd believed so much that it was Wallace and it turned out to be Severus. Did it mean she was developing feelings for him or that he was developing feelings for her? She couldn't decipher her feelings and honestly just wanted a nice cup of tea.

"Did Master Snape talk with you about Nana last night?"

"Yes, he told me she died." Henry replied, his face saddened by the reality of her passing.

"She was very ill and it was her time." Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder and rested her chin on it.

"I am sorry she's gone, Mum."

"Me too." They drank some tea and ate a biscuit or two before heading back upstairs to change and open the rest of the Christmas presents. Hermione couldn't help but feel completely full with the weight of her emotions. She had lost Wallace and her Mum in one year.

"Let's watch a movie, dear." Hermione flipped on her television and sat beside Henry on the couch. She opened her cheese crisps and swallowed a bit of her pumpkin juice before wrapping a blanket around her legs.

"Hermione, we've brought cake." Ron called out from the kitchen.

"Cake?" Hermione stood slowly and went to the kitchen.

"You look much better today." Ron said, as Hermione leaned down to his chair to squeeze his hand.

"Chocolate or vanilla, Hermione?" Sallie asked, cutting the separate cakes.

"Chocolate please." Sallie handed the cake to Hermione and then served the boys.

"We should do this more often." Ron said as vanilla cake smeared his face.

"Thank you both for taking care of me."

"It's nothing, love." Ron and Sallie exchanged looks of worry, but hid their emotions from Hermione.

"We'll open tomorrow for a couple hours to check inventory and then we can have a late lunch, is that okay?"

"Sounds great." Sallie sat beside Hermione and ate her vanilla cake, hoping Hermione was truly feeling better. The worried sounds of Hermione's sleep were enough to think Hermione completely depressed.

"To the new year." Hermione raised her glass and tipped it towards her friends.

"A whole new year."


	12. His Father's Son

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the HarryPotter universe: please don't sue me for my trifle of a fan fiction :)

author's note at the end...

Chapter 10: His Father's Son

The next day at the bookstore, Hermione had the horrifying sensation that everything was going to become infinitely worse. The books seemed in order, the shipments on time, and the customers buying in droves, yet she couldn't' shake the feeling that something terrible was going to change. Before leaving for her normal lunch break, she talked with Sallie about the next day's schedule, as Hermione would have to be gone most of the day with the funeral and whatnot.

"Bring us some bread, would ya?" Ron called out to her as she walked closer the door.

"You can buy your own bloody bread, Ronald Weasley." Hermione called back with a sneer and a laugh.

"That's our Hermione, full of holiday cheer."

"Be back in a bit." Hermione waved and set out into the cold. Her intentions were to stop at the store, get some groceries (including bread) and then head back to the bookstore. This was her plan indeed, but then the bakery was having fresh cinnamon buns and she couldn't resist the sticky sweetness. She stayed in a chair at a lonely table for an hour and a half eating her buns and drinking hot chocolate. Such supreme beauty couldn't exist anywhere else then on a winter's day with hot chocolate and a nice, intelligent book.

"Would you like some more, Miss?" The waitress asked leaning down into Hermione's face to catch her attention.

"No thank you, I fear I've been gone long enough." Hermione said, smiling to the kind waitress and standing, though rather haphazardly. Her stomach knocked the table a bit and spilled the remainder of her cocoa.

"Sorry about that, I keep forgetting I have this belly." The waitress giggled a bit and watched Hermione leave the bakery. With her plan in mind, Hermione headed to the store and finished her shopping in time to make sure the bookstore was closing.

"I'm sorry I was out so long, they had fresh buns at the bakery." Hermione offered as she entered the bookstore and sat at her desk.

"You've not been out that long, Hermione. Besides, we can handle it all." Ron said, wondering if she'd managed to buy any bread.

"I've bought bread, Ron."

"You read my mind every time."

"I'll be leaving around twelve tomorrow for the funeral. We have shipments in the morning, but after that, please take a day off." Hermione said returning to the main room, eyeing Ron and Sallie who seemed up to some mischief.

"Have I something on my dress?" Hermione asked, looking down at her dress. They both seemed to be staring oddly at her.

"We've not seen you look so lovely and happy in a long time." Sallie said joyously, standing to hug Hermione tightly around the shoulders.

"Are you joking? I have gained another fifteen pounds and if you can believe it my hair is frizzier."

"But you look adorable." Ron joked, fainting the same hug as Sallie.

"We know that you've lost your Mum and that this holiday was difficult without Wallace, but since his death and your arrival here, you haven't seemed happy at all. Not that it wasn't explainable or understandable, I guess I just haven't seen you like this before." Sallie patted Hermione's hand and smiled towards her again, this time it was more than genuine. Sallie's smile was like a sister to another on her wedding day.

"That's very kind, Sallie, I guess it's the weather. I love winter." Hermione pulled her scarf around her neck again and thought about the long trek home. Her feet ached tremendously, but she knew the exercise was good for her baby, though she didn't relish it as she had in the beginning. Her dancing had become less emotionally fulfilling and more emotionally draining than she had ever imagined.

"Let me walk with you home, Hermione." Sallie said, grabbing her own scarf and gloves and kissing Ron neatly on his rose-red lips. Hermione felt a pang of jealousy she hadn't ever felt before, both of her best friends were in relationships; yes Harry was experiencing difficulty, but he still had love, he still had Susan.

"Thank you, Sallie." They walked in relative silence at first; Hermione couldn't form any words that didn't seem too intrusive, too invasive.

"Uncle Severus doesn't want you to go to London alone. He asked me to accompany you tomorrow, but I don't think it would be any wiser than you going alone."

"Why is he concerned?" Hermione asked, wondering if he perhaps knew something she was unaware of that minute.

"Pregnant women are most susceptible to theft and attacks. I believe he is concerned for your safety. Not that he said that in so many words, but I know that's what he meant."

"I will be just fine on my own." Hermione replied with a tone in her voice that begged Sallie not to pursue the subject further. With the weight of her mother's death on her shoulders and also a new year without her husband, Hermione stopped in the virginal snow, pallid, untouched. She knelt down slowly, awkwardly and touched it, wondering what it felt like to touch the gloriousness of purity. It felt bitter in the arches of her fingers, bitter and indifferent to her touch.

"Ron is concerned too, Hermione. We don't want anything to happen in your condition." Sallie offered, helping Hermione stand again.

"Ah, I see now. It's the Order then, the Order wants me to be protected."

"Not necessarily." Sallie lied, running her spider-like fingers through her growing brown hair. Her hair wasn't nearly as dark as Severus's or Michaels. It was almost honeyed in its appearance, but for the most part it seemed a russet of sorts.

"Who is to accompany me then, if you aren't going to?" Again, Sallie's fingers ran through her hair, Hermione deduced that it was some form of anxiety. Hermione felt anxious too, standing knee deep in fresh snow with a friend who was trying to explain her safety.

"Uncle wanted to, but he is speaking a symposium at Oxford and cannot break his appointment. Ron and I are planning on taking care of things here for you, so we cannot go." Sallie's face seemed worried, more worried then Hermione had seen before, not that she had ever truly seen Sallie worried.

"Is it Harry then?" Hermione asked, looking towards the north paddock where Henry and Atticus were flying on their brooms. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of debilitating stress her almost thirteen-year-old son was experiencing. As an adult, the pain of losing a loved one was great, but to someone who didn't understand death so much, it was devastating.

"No, Harry is not a wise choice either."

"Who, then, so I don't keep guessing?"

"That's it, they don't know yet. I was told to inform you to be aware that someone will be escorting you to London and they will arrive promptly at ten o'clock."

"Thank you for telling me, not that I am all that pleased about the situation. Why do I need protection, bloody Voldemort is dead, gone, deceased. Why does someone need to accompany me to London to see my dead Mum? She's dead too, she can't hurt anyone anymore. Why can't the Order actually help people who need them instead of bludgering people who have little sanity enough to deal with them? These people are supposed to know me, they are my superiors, **I** know **them**, they should know that there is no threat on my life anymore." Hermione sat abruptly in the snow, her bottom sinking in the icy mass. She had no care of it, though.

"I am sorry this bothers you, Hermione."

"I'm just confused and irritated, Sallie and I shouldn't be taking this out on you. You are only their scapegoat. It's just relentless, these feelings I have whenever I have them. This morning I cried over a spot on my shoes and then over the post. I cried because the post was ten minutes late." Hermione balled the snow in her fist and made a small ball. It reminded her instantly of her snowball fight with Henry, how he had seemed so mischievous and conniving.

"I had those feelings too. Sometimes, I would start crying at things people would say that were lovely or worse cross. One morning, I remember clear as day, Uncle Severus told me my hair was lovely. I couldn't believe he thought my hair was lovely, or that he was really capable of true feelings like those. I mean he's never been married that I am aware of, so I couldn't believe he meant what he said. I cried for a good hour, afraid he was trying to make me not cry. I was so confused, you know, so sensitive to everything." Hermione's eyes met Sallie's in immediate understanding. Again Hermione realized how distinctly similar their situations were.

"Thank you, Sallie, sometimes nothing helps but a good talk." Hermione stood laboriously and looked at her house, covered in the unspoiled snow.

"Did you say he'd never been married?" Hermione asked, just then catching the phrase in her recollection of Sallie's words.

"Not ever. I thought when I was very small that he would marry and become loving like my Dad was. But Uncle Severus never married; he remained unloving and cruel until we were forced upon him. I believe Harrison had a lot to do with his change. It's not noticeable to everyone, but I notice little things in him that are different." Sallie stopped brusquely and faced Hermione. It was as though she wanted terribly to ask Hermione a question, but Hermione had no idea what it could be. So, they stared at each other for a brief moment and continued to Hermione's doorstep. Hermione craved the answer to the person Eleanor. If she wasn't Severus's wife, who could she have been?

"Hermione, please let someone go with you tomorrow. I know you don't think you need the assistance, but I do and so do many others. We care for you, whether you chose to believe us." Sallie smirked a trademark Snape smirk and turned to go up the beaten pathway to Snape Manor.

"Wait, Sallie, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Who is Madame Eleanor?" Hermione asked, trying to gauge Sallie's reaction.

"Madame Eleanor? I have no idea, why do you ask?"

"She's in a painting with Severus. I was just wondering. I saw it on Christmas Eve, down the corridor to the bathroom and I have been meaning to ask you about it, but keep forgetting all the same." Sallie's face seemed pensive, as if she was trying desperately to conjure the thought of the woman.

"I'll try to locate the painting tonight."

"Thank you." Hermione turned the knob of the door and the image of the woman came into her mind again. She was thin, not too short as her head was at least equal with Severus's collarbone. Her skin had seemed like porcelain, white and untouched, like the snow.

"Austen! Austen, dinner time." Hermione called out to the kneazle probably up to no good in the cellar again. That night, she, Henry, and Ron ate in silence. Ron was worried about Hermione, her strength and patience was growing thin. He wondered how many more months she could handle the stress of both her family and the bookstore. Henry was toying with the idea of asking his Mum more information about her time at Hogwarts as sometimes he felt as though he really didn't know much about her from before her marriage to his Dad.

"Let's get some sleep tonight, boys, tomorrow is going to be a long day." Hermione cast _scourgify_ on the dishes and headed for her rooms.

"In the morning, all fresh and new, I will 'waken, from dreams of you." She heard the memory of Wallace's voice in her head. He'd whispered the mantra every night before bed, every night except the one prior to his death. Facing the dawn, Hermione closed her eyes and prayed to whosoever could grant her guidance and vigour to survive the dusk.

WWWWWWWWWW

The next morning, at exactly ten o'clock, a knock came to the household of Stuart. Hermione walked passively to the door, acutely aware that the person probably wanted free of the assignment as much as she did.

"Remus!" Hermione yelled in perfect surprise.

"I thought it would ease you to know that I could be here, instead of a stranger." Remus stepped forward and hugged the young woman, the once student of his who had changed so much in the nine years since her third year.

"Thank you, for coming I mean." Hermione beckoned Henry into the foyer and they left for London.

"We are taking a muggle car for protection." Remus divulged, patting Hermione's hand softly.

"How is Tonks?" Hermione enquired, peering at him through the blacked veil falling from her hat.

"Difficult as ever. Can't seem to tame her, I guess."

"She is lucky to have you, dear, really."

"Now who's trying to get on someone's good side? I still have to accompany you, Hermione Granger Stuart, whether you agree to the matter or not." Hermione scoffed and turned to the window. Sometimes she hated riding on the left side. All the good scenery seemed to be on the right.

"I am not trying to inflate your ego, I am merely stating that being in a relationship with love and a devoted spouse is more agreeable than being in a relationship with a wall, or pillow or lamp." Hermione retorted, her hands resting on her face covering the puffiness of her eyes. She hadn't slept well in three nights. It seemed the moment she laid down to sleep, her mind would fill with questions and ideas. She would feel the baby inside her kick and then feel exceedingly guilty. She wanted so much to enjoy every minute of her infants growth and yet she couldn't quite give all of herself to the idea.

"Is this it?" Remus asked, looking towards a large brownstone surrounded by a glorious garden.

"This is it." Hermione said. She was home, or at least where she had spent the first eleven years of her life. She stepped out of the car and walked in the direction of the rear door.

"I'll just be a minute." Hermione walked into the home and instinctively walked the two flights of stairs to her room. She had stored many important things in the room in her lifetime, but none more important to her then her wedding album of both wizard and muggle photographs and Wallace's research papers, which she'd brought to London before moving into the house on Sedna Station.

"I've gathered my things." Hermione said politely opening her door and taking her seat. They drove off towards the funeral parlour and spent the remainder of the day with distant family and friends.

That evening, when everything was finished, they returned home to Hogsmeade Hermione moved all of her belongings from her Mum's home into the cellar and magically warded the area. She didn't want anyone, especially Henry discovering all of Wallace's findings.

"Thank you for coming today, even if you were sent to accompany me." Hermione said, pecking Remus on the cheek and opening the door for him. He smiled sweetly in her direction and apparated away.

"Henry, we'll eat out tonight." Hermione called out to Henry from the bottom of the stairs.

"Be right down, Mum." They headed through the snow with warmed boots to Magnus's Tavern, a newer restaurant where they had eaten a couple times. Hermione felt no desire to cook or be bothered to clean dishes and knew Henry was ready for some assorted meals.

"Would you like some cider with your dinner, Miss?" The young waitress asked Hermione looking over the top of her notepad. Hermione noticed she seemed rather exhausted, so she made her order simple, she wanted a filet of steak and didn't care either way what came with it.

"I liked the flowers cousin Bart sent for Grandmum, they were quite pretty." Henry said, slowly chewing on a crust of bread,

"Yes, they were all quite lovely." Hermione fiddled with her silverware and smiled with regard to the flowers, she had quite enjoyed the flowers.

"Did you and Grandmum not get along very well?" He asked, lowering his voice.

"Sometimes we did not get along very well, but then other times I couldn't imagine life without her. I think that's how Mum's and daughters are, sweetheart. It's not like sons, Mums and sons always grow together. Mum's and daughter's grow apart until the daughter has a daughter of her own."

"I will miss her."

"I will too." Hermione's heart ached for the boy in front of her. He was so innocent and unaffected by the horribleness of the world. He didn't know of the disasters of War, like she did. Minutes later, their order came and they ate in silence, but Hermione had a feeling that Henry had many more questions to ask. As they left the tavern, Hermione warmed their boots once more and held tightly to the boy who seemed to be growing larger by the day.

"Do you still love Dad?" Henry asked, not able to face his Mum.

"Of course I still love Dad."

"It's just that sometimes, I feel like loving Dad is keeping you alone."

"What?" Hermione slowed her pace, wondering what her son could possibly mean by his words.

"When will you meet someone new? If you still love Dad, how will you love someone else? Don't you want to love someone else?" The stars glowed bright that night as they walked back home some two kilometres from their evening meal. Hermione's hands felt frozen against the supple fabric of her jacket.

"I don't know the answer to those questions, Henry. I love Dad, I miss Dad, and I am not ready to try to replace him with some substitute. And I know that if I find someone that I truly care for, he will understand that I have enough room in my heart to love both he and your Dad. He isn't worthy of my love if he doesn't" Hermione squeezed the edge of Henry's shoulder and the walked through the door to their house.

"I want you to feel happy like you did with Dad."

"I will someday. I have you and this little one to worry about, and that's enough for anyone."

"I miss Dad too, Mum, but I don't want you to be upset. I know everyone has their own way to deal with death and I know it must be harder when you really love someone like Dad." He smiled a smile that reminded Hermione so much of Wallace that her heart leapt.

"You've thought this out then?"

"I know from feelings I get. Like how much I worry about Michael on the pitch against Gryffindor. He's my best mate and I know I would be upset if he were hurt or worse dead. I know that the feeling must be different when you've spent a life with someone. Like real honest love." The smell of the hot cocoa filled the room as Hermione admired her son, his honesty and tenacity to tackle such a subject with his own Mum. She poured a cup of tea for him and sat on the couch in the den.

"You have surprised me today. I never thought you understood relationships like mine and your Dad's so well. I worried you would be confused by it all." Hermione said, her eyes meeting his grey ones in understanding.

"I know that I miss Dad and I know that he's not coming back. I guess that's why I have been able to move on a little. He'll be my Dad forever and I know I will always miss him, but I know that I have to let go or I'll never live like I need to. He wouldn't want us to suffer." He leaned into his Mum's arms and they held each other, crying a little and suffering for one more instant. Hermione wiped his eyes with the sleeve of her robes and then her own.

"I will take you to Hogwarts tomorrow, in the morning." Hermione kissed his cheek before blowing out the candles around the den.

"How are you feeling?" Ron asked as he floated through the doors from the kitchen.

"Better. Henry and I had a productive talk."  
"That is good." Ron came to her side and sipped from her cocoa.

"Sallie sends her best wishes. She wanted to come by but didn't want to disturb your mourning." Ron's removed his boots and sweater with the flick of his wrist and settled on the couch beside her.

"I am going to ask her for tea tomorrow."

"Well, I am exhausted, let me know when you're taking Henry to school, I'll go too. Bill wants to see me about Mum's birthday anyway."

"Goodnight, Ron." She smiled to him as he seated himself back in the chair and floated up the stairs to his room.

"Goodnight, Hermione." She nodded and went to the sink to place her cup and saucer in the cupboard after a quick cleaning spell. In the night, she did most of her thinking. Tonight, her thoughts were plagued by her son's words. He wanted her to love someone else. He wanted her to be happy.

Before turning in to bed, Hermione checked Henry's room and found him sound asleep. She stared at him for a good five minutes before closing the door. The ashen moon illuminated his face.

"In due time, Henry, in due time." She closed the door and vowed to open her eyes to the world again. It had been nearly seven months since Wallace's' death and she knew she had to move on and become a fully functioning human again. She laid flatly in the middle of her large bed and sighed a heavy sigh before turning on her side. She could barely see Snape Manor from her window, but wondered briefly if anyone begging sleep could see her home. While she didn't get her answer, the supreme idea that she'd even though it gave her hope for the next day.

Author's note:

mysticdarkraven:thanks!!

armor:we'll see about that dream...

anarane anwamane:thanks

makalani astral: i guess my own relationship with my Mum makes me write Hermione's Mum that way. Presumably, that's what i know. Eleanor's identity will be revealed soon.

amsev: Thanks for your review. I have been worried about Severus's character staying in character because he has had to raise these children. I want him to be himself while still being able to care for his family...so thanks for that review, it made me worry a little less

tweetyiscool: thanks for the review...I am glad you like the story. I enjoy writing it.


	13. The Early Bird

Disclaimer: Please don't sue, I don't anything, i'm not profiting at all...

Thanky for all the reviews!!!! They were greatly appreciated and used :)

Chapter 11: The Early Bird... 

The New Year began quite well with plans and more plans. Hermione was elected to conjure the best possible wedding she could for Ron and Sallie and although she was busy preparing for the eventual birth of her unborn child, she happily obliged. The nursery that seemed so completely empty only the month before was filled with things so cosy and beautiful. Upon first entering the room, there was a mahogany crib from Africa where she and Wallace had spent some time researching. The colours for the room were neutral and ambiguous with deep yellows and whites. She'd wanted to create a sanctuary for her baby and also herself considering she would be spending a great deal of time in the room as well. At night, she would think of nothing but the baby, what he or she would look like or names for the baby. She hadn't really saddled any she genuinely liked or felt like she could call a child. Poor Wallace had been named after his great grandfather and had hated his name. Henry had been named for his grandfather as well, but his name was at least tolerable. Many mornings, absentmindedly, Hermione talked to her baby about the day's plans. She soon came to really love being pregnant, but the looming delivery frightened her more than she would admit freely. One major relief from the baby's impending arrival was the fact that when Ron left her house to be with Sallie, she would have a constant companion in life.

January was a month Hermione always enjoyed. She loved the snow, the warmth of the fire and the sparkling air. The month had been filled with plans. Severus and Hermione had sort of ganged up on Ron and Sallie on having the wedding at Hogwarts instead of Snape Manor. Although Sallie hadn't attended the school, her parents had and Ron's history was all Hogwarts. When February began to creep upon them, Hermione sat down with both Ron and Sallie separately and had them fill out a sort of questionnaire about the other. The questions were all based on their history, their favourite things, and their lives both together and apart. Surprisingly, Ron knew quite a deal more about Sallie then she knew of him. To rectify the situation, Hermione devised a plan to have them to have a weekend away from the planning and the families. She offered to take care of Harrison while they were gone and waved with quiet relief as they apparated from her doorstep. While the weekend had been an eye opener to the life of a three year old, she had enjoyed every minute of him. It seemed every time she looked into his blue-grey eyes, he stole a bit more of her heart and it grew easier for him to get what he wanted with her. On Sunday, when Ron and Sallie were due to return, Hermione prepared a nice tea for a welcoming and gathered Harrison's belongings so he could take back all his things to Snape manor.

"I've made tea, make yourself at home." She called down the stairs as she heard a door close. She heard heavy footsteps walk stealthily through the house, stop in the kitchen and then come through the doors to the stairwell.

"I'll be right down, I have Harrison taking a nap." Hermione's voice carried through the house as if it were empty.

"Was Lajes nice?" She called out, not hearing the footsteps any longer.

"Ron? Sallie?" She stopped folding the clothes near the changing tables. She'd been buying some clothes for the baby every now and then, making sure she'd have plenty without having to do wash. The air around her stilled as she turned to the door separating her from the rest of the hallway. Faint breaths were emanating from whoever was on the other side and Hermione could see shadows of a pair of shoes. Without speaking she placed a disillusionment charm on Harrison and aimed her wand at the door, waiting for whomever it was to open it. She took a soft step towards the door and waited for the other person to act. This was something she'd been prepared for since her first lessons in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Many ideas on whom the person could be entered her mind, but vanished as the doorknob turned. In a matter of seconds, Hermione was face to face with someone she remembered quite well, and the spells she thought to cast were whittled down to one.

"_Expelliarmus!" _Hermione cried aiming her wand at Peter Pettigrew. His mousy face contorted as his wand flew from his hands into her own. In the years since she'd last seen him, he'd grown even uglier and homely than she recalled.

"You have a great deal of nerve coming to my home, Pettigrew." Hermione yelled, thinking of the best spell to cast to keep him apprehended.

"We need information from you, Madame Stuart." Pettigrew mumbled, his thin and rancid mouth squeaking the words out.

"_Petrificus totalis!"_ Hermione shouted with all the power she could, sending his body into the wall behind him.

"Isn't it perfect timing that Albus Dumbledore should be coming for tea in, oh, twenty minutes." She paused and brandished her wand in her hands with a tighter grip, snapping his in half and throwing it in the fire. It shrieked hauntingly and melted into the flames.

"Hermione! We're Back!" She heard Ron call from the front door.

"I'm up here, Ron and I have a surprise for you." She called back, noticing the trying look of horror on her intruders face.

"No more surprises, Hermione, we've been through a lot this weekend." Ron called back, his voice growing ever closer as he spoke. When he came to the top of the stairs, he stopped and looked mournfully down the hallway to the last door where an old man and a very pregnant woman were.

"Who is that, Hermione?" He called out to her, afraid of the answer.

"Pettigrew, Ron. He came about fifteen minutes ago insisting I give him information. What kind of information, I know not." Hermione replied.

"Sallie, Harrison is on the bed in here, asleep." Hermione said pointing to the room behind her. She let her eyes travel once more to the heap of a wasted man before her and sighed. She had hated this man for many years, he had helped Voldemort become human again, he had helped the Death Eaters storm Hogwarts, and he, the little varmint, had killed her most beloved Hagrid. She took one last look at him before turning to see Sallie dissolving the disillusionment charm on Harrison and stroking the feathery blonde hair sculpting his young face.

"I'm sorry, Sallie, I tried my best to make sure he wasn't hurt."

"Don't apologize for that man, Hermione." Sallie retorted while pulling the blankets around Harrison and crawling beside him on the bed, her thoughts on Draco's death.

"I see we have a situation." Hermione looked from Sallie briefly to see Albus Dumbledore slowly proceeding down the hallway. "I rather expected when no one greeted me at the door that perhaps something was amiss. I am sad to see that my theory was indeed correct." There was no twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes; he seemed to have an odd look of silent triumph not unlike the look he'd carried after the fall of Voldemort.

"I don't know exactly what he wants, Professor Dumbledore, he said that he needed information from me." Hermione stood fully and placed a hand at the small of her back where some pain was beginning to grow.

"We will question him soon enough. I do hope that his presence here has not affected you poorly, Madame Stuart." He made the space between them quite small and his hands graced her shoulders. His touch was so light and loving, that of a father's touch after a regretful situation.

"I am glad we've caught him." Her words made an impact on them all. Yes, as a whole they'd defeated Voldemort and stopped his reign of terror, but his accomplices were numerous and at large. Having Pettigrew was like solving a puzzle, getting the ungettable get.

"I think I need some tea, my head is bit light." Hermione bowed slightly to Dumbledore, sighed and walked down the many stairs. Her mind was filled with questions about Pettigrew's motives. What could he possible need from her?

Hours later when several top aurors left with Peter Pettigrew, the people in number ten sat in awkward silence and waited for someone to talk. Hermione had made enough tea to flood the English Channel and wondered if anyone felt up to eating. In her condition, or at least recently, she was always insatiable.

"Would anyone like anything to eat?" Hermione asked, scanning the room for hungry faces. Ron and Sallie were sitting together on the couch, neither really paying much attention to Hermione's words. Albus Dumbledore had left prior to the aurors leaving and had taken some cherry strudel with him. Before heading to the kitchen, Hermione motioned to Remus Lupin whom had arrived soon after the aurors were contacted and he followed her to the kitchen.

"Would you mind if I stayed tonight? Albus has requested that someone be with you until we feel it is safe again and since I was here already, I didn't know if you would find it more agreeable than someone you are unfamiliar with."

"I motioned you in here to ask that very question. I would be grateful if you could stay with me." The tea bags were piling high in her strainer as she went to throw them in the dustbin. She had gone without magic for so long that the moment she forced the spells from her body, a life inside her began anew. Small spells here and there hadn't really placed any stress on her body, but in the wake of the night, her body felt quite wasted. She leaned with both elbows on the edge of the sink and breathed deep and full trying to ease the pain in her lower back. It was becoming more troublesome and frustrating the loner she stayed in the kitchen and on her feet.

"Are you in pain?"

"I think it was the magic. I have tried not to use it so much because of the baby, but tonight I couldn't avoid it." Her words were uneasy, her voice quivering through the pain of another spasm.

"Don't be alarmed, I am going to put pressure on you lower back." His hands gently massaged the area where Hermione indicated there was pain and formed small circles lightly pulling the pain away.

"I think you should see the healer tomorrow, this isn't normal." Remus frowned as Hermione faced him the dark circles under her eyes more apparent than before.

"I feel fine." She took steps to exit the kitchen, but felt another spasm quickly in her back, this time stretching from her right side to her abdomen and then back around. She couldn't feel her legs briefly, so she stopped and massaged her stomach where the pain was subsiding.

"Hermione, we're going to the house to get Harrison settled in." Ron said as she entered the room. He stroked Sallie's hand before she stood and wrapped a sleeping Harrison in Ron's cloak and moved to the cracked door.

"Are you alright?" Ron enquired, a look of concern and grief written plainly across his freckled face.

"No, I don't believe I am." Hermione contorted in pain on the cranberry chair, her abdomen in spasm again, relentlessly.

"What' s wrong? Is it the baby?" Sallie asked, placing Harrison back on the couch.

"I think I'm in labour." Hermione winced as she spoke, the pain was almost unbearable.

"Let's go to the Manor and floo to Osgood's." Sallie said helping Hermione stand. She knew apparation was out of the question, obviously she'd used enough magic throughout the day.

"Here, let me carry you, Hermione, it will be easier." Remus pulled her arms around his shoulder and lifted her as if she weighed no more than a quill and walked as swiftly as he could to Severus Snape's house. She had tried to protest, but in later thoughts she remembered werewolves had super human strength.

"Uncle Severus, can you come here please?" Sallie called out into the darkness of the home. She knew she should've contacted him earlier after Pettigrew was captured, but she couldn't bear to leave Harrison and didn't want Ron to leave either. He stalked towards them as if their mere presence in his house was ridiculous.

"Pray tell why do you need my services now?" He asked, as Ron floated in through the door with Harrison and Remus followed shortly after.

"Has she exhausted herself again?" He asked, but the look Hermione gave him as Remus helped her stand was something that tore his blackened heart from his chest. She was in pain.

"What has happened?"

"We returned from Lajes to find Hermione in hall in the second floor of her house, an apprehended Peter Pettigrew in a body bind at her feet. He was trying to gain information from her. Aurors have taken him away, but we still aren't quite sure why he was sent or what he wanted." Sallie sent Harrison away with Michael to be put to bed and watched her Uncle pace the floor in front of them, his arms folded Indian style against his chest one hand resting on his chin.

"Pettigrew?" He questioned, the name still conjuring thoughts of the darkest days in his mind. The return of a Lord no one, or least he, wanted to return. The resuming of his spy life and the retirement of one he had come to endure.

"Why are you injured?" His eyes met hers briefly, wondering if she could sense his concern for her. Before she could reply, as the pain was growing stronger and her breathing weaker, he answered for her.

"The magic. You cast a powerful spell. The healer said to avoid magic, Hermione." Hermione's eyes squinted trying to breath through another spasm, but the pain seemed to lesson when she thought of her baby and how she'd inadvertently hurt it.

"Uncle, we need to floo to Osgood's." Sallie interrupted, motioning to the stairs.

"Yes, but first I have something that may help." In a furry of black robes, he was off up the stairs and down the corridor to the potions laboratory he kept upstairs. He'd brewed a potion for her in December when he thought she might experience pain or discomfort from the loss of her Mum. He came quickly down the stairs to her side and uncapped the beaker.

"This will stop the contractions and ease the pain." He murmured, taking the beaker back once she'd consumed the lot.

"It tasted like lavender." She said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve and leaning a bit on the banister. Instantly, she felt the potion taking effect. It travelled snake-like through her body and without hesitation, the pain in her abdomen and back subsided.

"Luckily I brewed the potion in advance for just such an occasion." His voice seemed edgy, tired, he hadn't expected a gaggle of people in his foyer at eight o'clock at night.

"Let's get to Osgood's to determine where everything is." Remus said, finally able to speak clearly and coherently. It had been many years since he'd been around a pregnant woman. He helped Hermione up the stairs and handed her the floo pot as she entered the slytherin green flames.

"Osgood's." She said plainly, but everyone in the room noted the hint of sarcasm in her tired voice.

"I will stay with the children." Severus said, ushering Sallie and Ron towards the fireplace.

"I will stay, Uncle, the healer will want to know what kind of potion you gave Hermione. If she needs me we can change places later." Sallie signalled for Severus to go next and as he stepped into the flames, she met his eyes. She'd never noticed before how similar his eyes seemed to her fathers. She recalled sitting with Severus one spring day when he'd been able to come to Easter dinner and she'd stared into his onyx eyes. They were always dark and dreary, as if something agonizing was always happening when he looked at her. She recalled another time, when she was younger when she had accidentally called him Daddy at Christmas dinner. His face was so similar to her fathers, that she sat right on his lap, kissed his cheek and wished him a happy Christmas, calling him Daddy.

"Osgood's." The sound of Remus's voice broke Sallie from her trance and left her staring into the green flames wondering how she hadn't noticed before that she had the same eyes as well. They must have been a very dominant gene in the Snape family gene pool.

"You'll have to remain on bed rest for the duration of your pregnancy, Madame Stuart. I am afraid there is no way around the subject." Healer Eleanor said, casting a warming spell on Hermione's socks.

"As long as you don't engage in more than necessary magic, the pregnancy should go full term."

"Thank you, Eleanor." Hermione turned on her side slightly and waited for her friends to come in and talk with her about the progress.

"Hermione, are you feeling better?" Ron asked, opening the door and floating in to her side.

"Yes, better. She said there is no permanent damage and thankfully my water didn't break or otherwise I would have had to have the baby tonight." She paused and wondered if Severus had come to the hospital, but threw the thought aside knowing he would stay at the Manor to watch the children.

"If Severus hadn't given me that potion, I would have a month premature baby to be taking care of now." Hermione whispered, wondering if Ron understood how different Severus seemed from their younger days.

"I am very glad he brewed it, blimey it would have been terrible having the baby early. The wedding's only three days away now, we can't have you stressing out and going into labour early." Ron said, smoothing the fabric of the hospital blanket around her stomach.

"I think you're having a boy." He said, laughing a bit at her large belly. Hermione hadn't been a skinny girl, but she had never been so large either.

"I don't know. Some Mum's say they can feel what they are having. Why do you think it's a boy?"

"Well, Wallace already has one son and he had two brothers and one sister. The odds of having a girl are small."

"I want a healthy baby, I don't care either way." Hermione smiled thinking of her baby. And although she was relieved to be safe from early labour, she wanted her baby in her arms.

"If it's a boy, you should name it after Snape since he did have a hand in saving it after all." Ron rested his hands back on his legs and looked to the door. She looked at Ron; amazed at his honest thought about a man he had once referred to as a greasy git.

"Yes, Severus did help me out quite a bit. I wonder what his middle name is?"

"On that note, I am going to say goodnight and let you get some rest. Get better and see you in the morning." Ron squeezed her hand and floated out towards the desolate hallway where three grown men stood in silence, neither acknowledging the other.

"She is growing tired, best hurry this along." Ron said matter-of-factly. Without thinking of Remus's or Harry's closer relationship with Hermione, Severus stepped to the door and looked in on the woman. A flood of emotions hit him. He couldn't look at her without imagining how odd it was to imagine her so pleasing and agreeable. She was almost always disagreeable as her opinions were something so steadfast and strong that no one could sway her, aside from close friends and even then it was difficult. His eyes travelled her form, her pregnant body was growing larger by the day and he found that quite beautiful.

"Sallie asked that I come to make sure the healer knew of the potion I administered." He said, stepping through the door. He noticed her initial glance of shock towards him and then something like comfort or familiarity settled instead.

"Thank you for that potion, I believe you saved my child." Hermione said, trying to ease herself from her side and onto her back.

"It is my duty to follow orders." He replied, immediately realizing how cold it had sounded, as if he had no real incentive to perform his role for the order.

"Oh, yes, well, thank you all the same."

"I am glad that I could help."

"It's your job, I mean I know Albus Dumbledore had asked that you keep an **eye **on me and Henry when he's home. With the incident today, I imagine it will become infinitely worse." Her words now sounded as cold as his. It wasn't as though she expected a bloody confession of love or like or whatever, she just wanted to know that he at least didn't hate her anymore. She didn't really understand where her sudden need to know how he felt about her had come from, and she honestly didn't know if she liked the feeling. On some level, she felt as though she was betraying her deceased husband by thinking of another man so intimately.

"I am at your disposal, Madame Stuart." He bowed mockingly and Hermione realized he'd actually made a joke. Her laugh resounded in the room like a great whistle and shocked both she and Severus.

"Sorry, I needed a good laugh." She blushed a bit, but reclaimed her dignity and curled her hair in the crevices of her fingers.

"Until tomorrow." He was unsure of what courtesy to perform, should he bow or kiss her hand as before?

"We need to discuss the menu again since we couldn't agree on the side dishes." He dismissed his idea of pleasantries and headed to the door.

"By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what is your middle name?" Severus faced her sharply and snorted, thinking of the horribly feminine name he'd received from his father.

"Why is that necessary information?"

"I have to use it for the ceremony. Your name is on their legal document as the person giving Sallie away. I need your full name." Hermione patted herself on the back in her mind and watched as he turned back into the man she'd formally known.

"Severus...Snape."

"What, I didn't quite catch that."

"Severus Aureliano Sidney Snape." Hermione instantly replayed the name in her mind, rolling the name over her tongue.

"Thank you." And with that, she decided if she had a boy, he would be Oliver (Wallace's middle name) Aureliano Granger-Stuart and if she had a girl, she would be Anya (Wallace's favourite girl name) Sidney Granger-Stuart. As he exited, both Remus and Harry came in the room, but she quickly feigned sleep and they continued to talk of things that didn't involve her or her situation.


	14. More Than Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own, or ever will, the Harry Potter Universe so wonderfully created by J K Rowling. Please do not sue; I highly doubt I could afford it. Please excuse the lateness of this post and read the author's note at the end of the second part about the time issue. Thanks for reading!!!

Ch**apter 12: More Than Friends, Part 1**

"Let it be brought to the Wizengamot's attention that Peter Pettigrew has been administered veritaserum and will now be able to testify freely to the court." A large cloaked man said, turning to the rows of members of the Wizengamot and bowing before he took his seat. Hermione watched from her front row seat as the momentarily stunned Pettigrew became more readily aware of his situation. Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore flanked her on either side, but she still felt slightly unprotected. She felt alone in the room full of people who cared little for her situation and the people she had really needed were absent. Ron and Sallie were present, but only because they had seen Pettigrew in the house.

"Please explain the course of events that led you to Madame Stuart's home on February seventeenth." A wizengamot member asked Pettigrew as he sat magically bound to the interrogation chair. They hadn't cleaned his face free of the dirt and sweat he had accumulated in his journey to her home and his stay in the Ministry prison.

"I was given orders to go to her house and gather information."

"Who sent you to gather this information?" This time, it was Cornelius Fudge who asked, looking down from the highest level of the seats over his rectangular glasses.

"Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, among other followers of the Dark Lord." There was a slight murmur of disbelief among the members of the Wizengamot, but Hermione couldn't quite hear what they were saying. She simply wanted to know why he had come to her home, the real information they needed.

"Why do you need information from Madame Stuart?"

"Wallace Stuart was developing a theory that proved how wizards and witches are born with magic."

"And why, pray tell, was this information important to you and the followers of Voldemort?" Another member of the Wizengamot was questioning now, but Hermione didn't pay attention to the face or voice of the member, she simply replayed what she remembered of Wallace's notes in her mind. Was there something she had missed? Some fatal flaw that could be of benefit to people like former Death Eaters?

"And why was this information important enough to enter Madame Stuart's house without permission?" The official asked again.

"His papers were in her house. We knew they had been moved from her Mum's house, so we came to Hogsmeade to find them."

"Again, to ask the same question, why are these papers so important?"

"The papers identify the exact essences of the magic. They give detailed analysis' of the exact place in the genetic code where the magic gene is located." Pettigrew's hands were dripping sweat down onto the concrete floor. His eyes looked heavy, but aware nonetheless.

"And what were you going to do with this information?"

"Use it against the witch. Steal her magic and make someone else stronger." Pettigrew met Hermione's eyes this time, her chocolate brown eyes unafraid to duel with his mousy brown eyes. Remus patted her shoulder and then beckoned her eyes to his.

"Don't worry about this, Hermione, they won't be able to use his papers or anything against you." But Lupin's words did little to calm Hermione down. She knew that Wallace had been working on some important genetics and potions work, but she never imagined he would come up with a theory to dissolve someone's magic. Her heavy sigh did not go unnoticed to the two men directly beside her, but then they hadn't the words to quell her fears, even if they tried.

"Thank you for your information, Peter Pettigrew, however it isn't enough to keep you from being severely punished. Azkaban." A large invisible gavel hit sounded in the room and Hermione stood without caution and fled.

In the hallway directly outside of courtroom four, Hermione's emotions spilled from her eyes. She hadn't felt such emotions in a while, but then, her emotions were always a little rampant lately. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket book and wiped her eyes, but couldn't bear to go back in the room. She didn't want to see Peter Pettigrew's face again or hear his slimy voice. Ultimately, she wanted to go home, have tea, and drown herself in a good book, but knew they would not take the sting away from the events that had transpired in her home. She hoped beyond the day, that Harrison would never remember Pettigrew's voice or face if he'd seen it at all.

"You shouldn't be alone out here." Came a dark calm voice she'd secretly been hoping to hear all morning.

"It's over, he's going to Azkaban." She faced him, his face softer but still severe as was normal.

"And what of his purpose?" Severus asked, trying not to pry.

"He wanted Wallace's papers." Hermione tucked her handkerchief back into her pocket book and fixed the hair around her face. Her legs felt quite weak against the ground and her large stomach protruded far more than she thought it would.

"The Order wants to move you to a safe location, but I think it would be wiser to have aurors at the house." He motioned for her to follow him back towards the main courtroom so Dumbledore and Remus could accompany her back to Sedna Station.

"I need to go somewhere, Healer Eleanor put me on bed rest, and I can see why now, my legs are swollen and my head heavy. I hate to place this obvious burden on you, but someone needs to decide what is best for me before I apparate myself home and do what I want anyway." Severus noted the intensity of her voice and set off to talk with Dumbledore, but when they returned back to the hallway where Hermione was supposed to be resting on a bench, they discovered she had already apparated.

"Thank you for helping me home, Harry. I know that things have been strained since the beginning of the year, but I do miss your friendship." She smiled at him, thankful that he had been able to sneak her away from the ministry.

"Do you need anything else?" Harry asked, folding the blankets around her down so that her arms could move freely. Her face seemed foreign to him as he helped her pull her long, curly locks away from her neck. She was happy, yet in such time that most people would be stressed and unable to find such happiness. Before he could think on the issue further, he realized why she was so happy as she rubbed her belly and smiled down at it. Her child made her happy.

"No, I am fine now. I want to be nice and rested for the wedding tomorrow." She patted his hand and beckoned him to sit next to her on the bed.

"How is Susan?" She asked, knowing that their marriage was experiencing difficulties. She wanted him to understand that she would listen, be objective and understand the situation as well as she could, but she could never love him the way he loved her, it wasn't possible.

"Have you talked with Ron?"

"No, or at least not about you, why?"

"We're trying to work things out." He said, blandly. Hermione nestled up to him a bit and all the happiness she had felt upon remembering her child was safe and secure disappeared when she thought about how unhappy he was. Even if she could never love him as more than her best friend, she didn't want him to be so despondent and bitter.

"Have you picked out names for your son?" She asked, remembering he had said Susan wanted to name him James.

"She still wants James, I think it would be good to have something different and James as the middle name. But, I ultimately left the decision to her as she has to carry the baby." Hermione grinned and pulled her arms tight around her chest. She wanted Wallace to be with her, she wanted his strong arms to be tight around her chest, not her own. She needed to feel his breath on her neck as they slept and to feel his tight muscles fold around her. Nothing seemed to feel as lovely as his arm draped across her back in the mornings or his legs rubbing against her in the wee hours. She sighed, her eyes began to tear and absentmindedly she began to crumble on Harry's lap. She shivered and wept so heavily, it felt as though she could never stop.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his warm breath whispered into her ear. She shuddered, it shouldn't have made her cry harder, but it did.

"I want Wallace." She sobbed, wiping her tears on her sleeve. He stroked her thick mane before trying to cover her again in the thick, woollen blanket.

"He is gone, Hermione." Harry said, his voice angry but comforting.

"I know that, I just want him. I want him to be here, I don't want to do this alone." She screamed, her sobs making her hiccup throughout.

"You need to calm down, you're going to get ill."

"I don't want to calm down, I want to yell. I want everyone to know the pain I feel everyday. Everyone thinks Hermione can handle everything and never be discouraged or pained. I have been in agony for six months and I can't do it anymore. I will not pretend that my heartache isn't real or that the whole lot of you have made me feel recovered. I don't feel better, in fact now I feel worse because I've brought an innocent child into this wreck. I can't pretend anymore. I want my husband back and my life, I want to live in Caithness and work on potions with him in our lab. I want Henry to look at me and understand that I can't replace his father, that I am not his real mother, even though I love him so much. I love him more than anything right now, and he's at Hogwarts away from me. I want to be loved again, like Wallace loved me, except I don't think I'll ever be able to let myself get to involved again and that just isn't fair. I have all these feelings I cannot express because I don't want people to think me horrid, but I still feel them. I still know that they lurk in dark places in my mind. I want Wallace back so bad, but I know I can't have him and..." She paused, looking in Harry's brilliant green eyes. Could she admit her secrets to him, could she admit that her feelings for Severus Snape had taken a form so unavoidable and overwhelming?

"What, Hermione, please, you can tell me anything."

"I feel as though I am betraying my husband everyday. I wake up, remember he isn't alive anymore, go about my day, but in my heart, I both love him and loathe him. I care for someone, Harry, I care for someone I shouldn't." She covered her face with the hem of her sleeve and wiped her eyes. She didn't want to give him false hope because he looked slightly surprised and promising.

"He is the type of person who would never love me, but I can't help but care for him. I have never wanted to have an affair, I mean when I was married to Wallace, I couldn't fathom looking to another man for what I shared so beautifully with my husband, but in my heart, I feel as though I am cheating on his memory with these feelings I have." She lay more squarely on her pillows and looked back at Harry who seemed stoic and surprised, less promising than before.

"Do you think this man could ever return your feelings, I mean eventually?" Harry asked, bringing the covers around her again. His hands graced her shoulders, his touch felt like Dumbledore's had, fatherly and friendly. She could never feel anything but the love of a friend for him.

"I don't know. He's not very forward or affectionate." Hermione smiled again, rubbing her large belly and thinking that her two good friends would be getting married the next day. She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, picturing how lovely Sallie would look in the dress robes they had bought in Hogsmeade. She thought of Ron's nervousness and joy in finally finding someone who could do for him what Wallace had once done for Hermione.

"Thank you for listening to me, Harry. I feel like a major burden has been lifted."

"I am your friend, Hermione, you can always count on me." Harry poked her side softly and then laughed, she was reminded of their younger days.

"I am glad we are friends." She replied and with that, Harry understood that they could only ever be friends. Regardless of the feelings he held for her, she could never return them.

"Do you need anything?" He asked, removing himself from her side.

"Tea would be nice." She said, laying her head down again on her pillows and closing her eyes briefly.

"I'll be right back." But as Harry opened the door to leave her room, he saw two faces, one that looked rather shocked and one that looked quite content.

"She's resting now. I am going to get her tea and then we need to discuss the schedule of Auror's who will be watching the house. She needs someone here twenty-four hours a day until we are sure she is out of harms way." Harry looked first to Albus Dumbledore, and folded his arms.

"She demands to go to the wedding tomorrow, so we'll need to make sure someone can escort her from here to Hogwarts and also to make sure she rests because Healer Eleanor does not want her walking around too much." He stopped and sighed, he couldn't help but worry for his friend.

"I don't know if she's up to talking right now." He added, turning down the hallway to the stairs.

"We will not disturb her then, Severus, please come with Harry and I to the kitchen to finalize the plans." Severus, Albus, and Harry all walked down the stairs to the kitchen where warm smells of spices and bread filled the air. Hermione's kitchen was one of the most domestic one's Severus had ever encountered. But, his thoughts did not remain on the smells for long, instead they drifted to her yelling. He obvious grief over her husband's death and then her feelings for someone new. He'd heard every word and yet didn't know if he should be pleased or down trodden. Was she talking of him?

The next morning, Hermione awoke refreshed and ready for the wedding. She sat up slowly and wondered who had been assigned the first shift of watch. Before she could ponder any longer, a harsh knock came at her door.

"If you plan on attending the wedding, I would advise you to start getting ready, Madame Stuart." She heard from the hallway. Severus's words were harsh as well, but his tone was slightly cheerful.

"I cannot stand." She said as her legs fell over the side of the bed, trying to stand but going quite weak before she could put more pressure on them.

"Are you decent?"

"Of course, what do you think, I sleep starkers waiting for dark wizards to come and ravish me, all eight months pregnant?" She whispered the last part under her breath, feeling slightly put off at her admission to caring for someone to Harry.

" Perhaps you would feel more comfortable if I had Potter come up here." He said, turning the doorknob and opening the door slowly.

"If you would rather not help me, call Harry, he has no problem seeing me in my night clothes." She said playfully as he walked to her side and looked down at her, his eyes betraying his supposed distress at having to help her.

"I am sure once I stand, I will be fine, I just can't seem to put pressure on them right now." She said, lifting the hem of her nightdress to reveal her white legs.

"Put your arm around my neck." He said, bending down to help her up. She acquiesced his request and put her left arm around his shoulders. He smelled sweetly of the pumpkin bread she'd made the morning of the attack. Her eyes met his instantly as her lips graced his cheek after falling forward trying to stand.

"I'm sorry." She said, but in her heart, for the first time since Wallace's passing, she wasn't sorry to have felt the skin of someone she cared for on her lips.

"Do you feel anything in your feet?" He asked, avoiding her eyes.

"Yes, thank you, I feel I can make it to the bathroom now." He'd helped be more than halfway across the room, and was reluctant to release her from his grasp. She seemed fragile just then, when she'd fallen forward and practically kissed his cheek.

"I'll wait for you downstairs as I am accompanying you to Hogwarts." She nodded and surged further to the bathroom. He noticed that her eyes were free of the pain he'd seen at the Ministry. Her face seemed relaxed and young again, so beautiful.

"Thank you, Severus." With that, she closed the door and made to freshen up. After her quick shower, she changed into fresh underclothes and walked out into her bedroom where Severus must have laid out her dress robes. The burgundy colour was not one she normally wore, but Sallie had wanted it and as a witness, Hermione wanted to oblige her friend. It took several minutes to button the under dress and ensure that the fabric lay perfectly on her larger figure. When she had buttoned the final length, she stepped in front of the mirror and fixed her hair. Without magic, she wouldn't be able to smooth it down so keenly and pregnancy had made it several times more unmanageable than before. So, she braided it in several different braids and made a circular design in the back. When her hair was finally done, she put on her light make-up and set off down the stairs to meet Severus in the kitchen.

"You were finished in adequate time." She heard from behind her left shoulder.

"I find that everything can be done in good time." She turned to face him and saw that he too had changed. He seemed free from any pain, any remnant of a difficult life. He wore royal blue dress robes with a fitted vest and long scarf of a lighter blue. His hair was tied back in a light ponytail revealing a pair of onyx eyes she scarcely remembered being so lovely and light. Before she could comment, the baby's head rested on her bladder, almost causing her to relieve herself in the foyer. The look of embarrassment must have shown on her face as Severus stepped forward a bit and tried to help her stand more comfortably.

"The baby is active now, I can hardly rest with it kicking me." She took his arm and they walked out of the hall onto the large patio where she saw a carriage ready to take them to Hogwarts.

"Sarah is waiting for us in the Great Hall." He said after helping her into the carriage.

"I imagine she is nervous. My wedding day was so catastrophic, I don't know how either Wallace or I survived it." She smiled to herself, feeling free in talking about him and not guilty.

"Ron will take care of her, Severus. He loves her and Harrison. He has never loved like this before, but I know it's right." Hermione's eyes pleaded with Severus's to take her words to heart.

"I believe you and that is why I am consenting to allow them to marry. She is my only niece and I felt obligated to be cautious. My brother was a fool and his consent of her marriage to Draco Malfoy a mistake, nasty and irrational. I wanted Sarah to truly know her feelings before I could consent to her marriage. I saw into her mind and knew it was right. She will have a fulfilling life and Harrison a hundred Weasley cousins to entertain him."

"It will be sad not to have them in your home, I'm sure."

"Yes and not to teach him anymore. They have elected to enrol him at Hawthorne's where Ronald attended."

"You will have Atticus and I am certain he is a handful." Hermione repositioned herself on the cushion and thought of Henry and how glad she would be to see him again.

"Atticus has but three years left."

"Well, my child will be ready for tutoring in four years, which will give you a break between Atticus. Perhaps he or she won't be a great know-it-all or annoying, in that time you could teach it."

"It is inescapable that a child of yours will have a thirst for knowledge."

"'Thirst for knowledge', my that sounds a great deal nicer than some of the other's I've heard." Hermione giggled and patted his sleeve. She expected him to tear his arm away from her grasp, but instead he allowed her hand to remain on his sleeve. The carriage came to a stop quickly and Severus stepped down to help her out of the carriage.

"Thank you." She said, stepping down. Her feet were already sore from the shoes, but she didn't dare complain. They walked together to the Great Hall, passing students and professors alike.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Hermione, I couldn't do this without you." Hermione took Sallie's hands in her and kissed them lightly.

"You look so lovely." Hermione said, admiring the ivory robes Sallie wore.

"Uncle Severus, you aren't wearing black." Sallie walked to him and embraced him tightly." I love you." She whispered in his ear, making him close his eyes and hold her tighter. Hermione admired the scene and decided that her perception of him being unaffectionate may have been wrong.

"Are you ready, Sallie Snape?" Albus Dumbledore announce, peeking in the doors.

"Almost, we'll be right along." Sallie pulled a leather book from beneath her bag and handed it to Hermione.

"This was Draco's book. I would like you to hold it during the ceremony so that he is included." Hermione too the book and walked to the door. Severus and Sallie took arms and followed her through the large doors to the pathway, which would lead Sallie to her fiancé. Hermione held her head up towards the muted sunlight and flashed suddenly to her own walk down the path. She had been wearing her mothers dress and a silver over-cloak to protect the dress from the snow. Her hair had been down in long curls around her face and down her back. She remembered seeing Wallace at the end of the uncovered path, his golden hair shining unaided by the winter sun. She cried that day, knowing she would be so happy with the man and unafraid of all that marriage would bring, including his seven-year-old son. Henry had been behind Wallace in his smart robes of hunter green, smiling towards her as if she was truly his Mum. Wallace had hugged her so closely to him when she reached him, she could hardly breath of the excitement of their hand-fasting.' I love you Hermione Jane, always.' The words hadn't left her, but seemed more powerful now that he was gone. Painfully, the baby's feet collided with her ribs once more and she stopped on the path, a foreign pain also joining the other. It subsided and Hermione continued again forgetting the pain and smiling towards the guests of Sallie and Ron's wedding. Fred and George met her at the beginning of the marital path and helped her walk down the aisle where she stood beside Albus Dumbeldore and watched Ron's face as Sallie began walking. Momentarily, she looked to Sallie and Severus, their faces so alike now that Severus's looked free of turmoil and strife. Hermione also noticed Severus looking back at her, his face seemingly content. When they reached the platform, Sallie hugged Severus and kissed his cheek lightly. She took Ron's hands in her and awaited Albus's speech. Hermione locked eyes with Severus as Albus spoke, but another gripping pain swept over her and before she realized how terrible and long it had been, the hand fasting was completed.


	15. More Than Friends 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or anything remotely involved with it.**

**Chapter 12: More than Friends Part 2**

She watched Sallie and Ron go down the path again and Severus turned to her to offer his arm. There were small tears of happiness and pain in her eyes as she followed him away from the alter.

"She looked so beautiful." Hermione said as they followed the path to the Great Hall for the reception.

"Much like her mother." His tone told Hermione not to ask further on the subject and she didn't. She preferred him to be quiet and content, not obnoxious and uncomfortable. When they reached the table where Hermione was to wit with Henry and some of the Weasley clan, Severus released her from his arm and pulled her chair out. Before he walked away, Hermione thanked him for his chivalry and sat next to Henry who looked extremely pleased with himself.

"Did you enjoy the ceremony?" She asked him as Sallie and Ron passed their table.

"It was fine, but I can't wait for food." Hermione chuckled at him and how much he reminded her of Ron who could never eat enough in school.

"Would you like a wedding like this some day?" She asked, sipping her water.

"Maybe, if I can find the right person. I wouldn't like to be married to a great hag."

"You are impossible." Hermione replied, pinching his sensitive spot beneath his arm.

"Oy! Mum that hurt!" She laughed at him, but thought of her own persistent pain that wouldn't abate. She rubbed her stomach lightly and tried not to show the pain on her face. If she had learned anything from Defence Against the Dark Arts class, it was never to show emotion.

"Please turn your attention to Harry Potter who would like to say a few words." Albus Dumbledore announced, gaining everyone's attention.

"I have know Ron since we were eleven and let me say, things haven't really changed. He was the first person who wanted to befriend me on the train coming here and the first to defend me against anyone who had something to say, well aside from a couple instances that shall remain unsaid. I never felt like a valuable member of society until I met him and Hermione. They made my life whole. Upon the eve of my own wedding, Ron gave me some great advice. He said, 'Run, Run fast, Run like you hairs on fire and don't look back.' At first, I thought he meant away from Susan, bit he didn't; he meant towards her and our new life. This is eternity, true happiness and devotion. My only concern for you now is helping raise Harrison, who for all intensive purposes seems more and more like his dear Uncle Severus everyday. For now, cheers and best wishes for a lifetime of happiness." Harry raised his glass and nodded to Ron who was staring between him and Hermione. He noted instantly that Hermione was forcing herself to look pleased and vowed to talk with her before the night was out.

"Would you care to dance, Madame Stuart?" Harry asked in a mock, upper class tone.

"It would be an honour." She turned away briefly to set her handbag down and close her eyes tightly dulling her pain a bit.

"I love this song." She said taking Harry's hand in her and putting the other on his shoulder.

"You look like this is the last place you want to be, Hermione, what's on your mind?" Harry asked, his eyes searching hers.

"Thank you for listening to me last night, Harry, I really needed to let out all of that anger and despair. And I am quite pleased being here, if a little tired."

"I would do anything to make sure you weren't suffering." He replied, his mouth dangerously close to her ear.

"I know that, and I would for you as well." They remained silent for the rest of their dance and then Hermione returned to her seat when Harrison had decided to join her.

"Your dress is pretty, Hermione." He said, quietly.

"Thank you, Harrison. Have you been having fun?" She asked him, helping him wipe the spilled juice from his sleeve.

"Yes, lots of fun. Daddy Ron thinks you are sad." Harrison said looking towards Ron and Sallie as they sat and talked a few tables away. She couldn't recall being so overwhelmed with emotion at Harry and Susan's wedding, but then it hadn't been at Hogwarts and she hadn't been nearly nine months pregnant. Harrison stood swiftly and ran off towards his Mum as an odd sort of liquid started to trickle between Hermione's legs. Without looking too suspicious, Hermione stood and walked slowly out of the Great Hall towards the loos to make sure it wasn't blood she was feeling. She turned down a corridor or two and walked quickly to a stall.

"Oh, bugger this stupid underwear." She said vehemently to the air. She checked her underwear for spots of blood, but everything seemed clear. She assumed her water had broken and sighed quite heavily realizing that everything she'd tried to stop had happened anyway. Her son or daughter would in fact be born early.

"Madame Stuart, are you ill?" She heard from outside her stall door. How had she not heard someone enter the room?

"No, I just needed to use to loo, Severus." She decided it was not imperative that he know she was in active labour as of yet. The contractions hadn't actually started and the books she'd read said that she shouldn't go the hospital until contractions were five minutes apart.

"We will be returning to your home shortly." He said, moving to the doorway of the restroom.

"I am quite tired, so that will be great." She stepped out of the stall to wash her hands and felt his eyes on her. When she finished drying her hands, a sting like she'd never felt before gripped her abdomen and lower back, but she still didn't want Severus to know, she couldn't ruin Sallie and Ron's wedding. She walked past him to the Great Hall and waited on his word for them to leave.

"Let me gather Atticus and Harrison." Severus turned swiftly from her and left her wondering if her uneasiness was written on her face. She hugged Henry and promised to write him soon. She said her goodbye's to the Weasley's and then to Sallie and Ron.

"We'll see you Friday." Hermione said, her heart heavy with the news of impending birth. She was having a baby, Wallace's baby. The happiness must have shown on her face because Severus smirked a bit towards her as the carriage started away.

"Ahhh...." Hermione sobbed into her pillow. It had been three hours since her arrival home from the wedding. She knew she couldn't wait any longer, so she stood to pack a few things in a suitcase. Contractions were exactly five minutes apart and as she packed, she stood stiffly waiting for them to pass. She wanted to make sure she packed for the hospital stay, but also the infants clothes and blankets. The smile that had graced her lips earlier only disappeared in the worst of contractions, but always found a home again on her face. Once she was finished checking her bags, she went to the bathroom to freshen herself and do something with her sweaty, bushy hair. When she had finished, she walked back into the bedroom to call on Severus who had decided to stay in case she needed anything, but he was already in the doorway.

"Going somewhere?" He asked, a tone close to anger in his voice; as if she was betraying him or something.

"Not immediately." She replied, feeling as though Severus was trying to father or that she's just snuck in after some late night rendezvous with a boyfriend.

"You are in no condition to travel, Hermione. For once, cease acting as though you know everything and get into bed to rest." She'd turned from him to put the bags on the floor when another contraction started and the weight of the bags proved too much and caused her to fall forward releasing them immediately to the floor. Her hands landed on the side of her bed. This pain was intense, far more than the others had been and she felt a great weight on her abdomen that wouldn't subside.

"I have to leave for the hospital. The contractions are getting too close together now." Hermione said, the pressure of the last contraction subsiding a little.

"When did they start?"

"This morning."

"Why did you hide your labour from me? You've put your unborn child at great risk being stubborn." Severus came quickly to her side and grabbed her bags, shrinking them to fit in his pockets.

"Follow me." He called as he walked out of her door and down the hallway, but he soon realized that she hadn't followed him at all.

"I can't walk..." She whispered her eyes glossy and large from crying, yet there was still a smile on her face knowing she would soon have her baby. Before she could take another step, Severus lifted her from the carpet and carried her to the foyer.

"Hold on tight, I am going to apparate us."

"Is this an emergency?" A very-uneducated receptionist asked looking squarely at Severus.

"Of course, you nit wit."

"What is your wife's predicament?" Deciding whether the time it would take to explain to the receptionist that Hermione was not his wife was useful, he ignored her comment and continued.

"She is in labour."

"Her name?"

"Hermione Stuart."

"Yes, we've already an entire file on her. Please take her upstairs to the labour and delivery ward." Severus wasted no time walking the stairs and found the receptionist on the floor to be a bit more helpful.

"She said she'd been in labour since this morning, but I have no idea when labour officially started. Hermione, tell the mediwitch when it started."

"It was this morning, I don't know what time. My water broke around four thirty."

"And when did the contractions become more intense?"

"Right after my water broke, I'd say closer to five. Before we left they were four minutes apart." Hermione stood shakily next to Severus, but followed the mediwitch down the hall with his aide.

"Alright dear, lets change into and get a check up." Hermione looked at the hospital gown and wondered how she would be able to get from her current dress robes into her hospital gown. The mediwitch left the room and Severus wouldn't meet her eye.

"I know that this is awkward and uncomfortable and I am sure there are a million other things you would rather being doing right now than tending to an emotional woman in labour, but I really need your help, please." She reached out to him and searched his face. He did seem quite distressed, but took her gown out of her hands and motioned for her to turn around. He began unbuttoning the long row of buttons that cascaded down her back, his fingers trembled slightly because it had been many years since he'd done something so intimate. Her top dress came off with ease until she had to step out of it and a contraction hit her hard. She reached for his arm and squeezed tightly, her slip barely covering her underclothes. She shuddered and breathed heavily before releasing his arm again.

"I'm sorry." She said, stepping out of the dress robes and turning to face him. She had trouble meeting his eyes as she knew that pain was something he knew, but not something he wanted to share with someone.

"I can get the rest, thank you." He turned from her and waited as she changed out of her slip and underclothes into the scant hospital gown.

"If you would like to get in touch with someone else to relieve you, don't feel obligated to stay. I just want Sallie and Ron to have a proper honeymoon, so don't call on them." Hermione tapped him on the shoulder to let him know he could turn around. Her hair was no bound in one large braid down her back and she nestled herself on the comfy bed.

"I don't feel obligated to stay." He said, coming to the side of her bed and stopping to help her bring her legs around. "But I would like to." He added, taking one of her hands in his.

"Thank you." She said, waiting for the mediwitch to come back and examine her.

"Please step out of the room, sir." Healer Eleanor asked of Severus as she entered the room.

"Just relax, Hermione, this won't hurt." Eleanor examined Hermione and then went to her chart book to write down some information.

"We won't be able to stop it this time, dear. She's just determined to come." Hermione met the healer's eyes quickly. Had she just admitted that Hermione was having a girl? Or maybe she'd heard her wrong.

"How much time do you think we have?" Hermione asked, pulling the blankets up around her stomach.

"Thirty minutes."

"Oh, well...I need to have some people contacted." Hermione said, counting on her hand the people she would need to let know.

"Your friend was contacting people." The healer replied.

"Who did you floo?" Hermione asked Severus as he came back in the room.

"Potter and Ginevra Thomas. Arthur and Molly Weasley. Albus and Minerva. Is there anyone else?" Severus asked, trying to think of anyone else she would want with her.

"Wallace's mum, but she wouldn't come. Umm...I guess that's it, thank you." Her hands shook uncontrollably as she tried to wipe her eyes. The tears were a mixed emotion of joy and terror. She was someone's mother and she didn't know exactly how good of one she would be.

"Are you in pain?"

"Nothing I can't handle. I did survive cruciatus several times." She joked with him, trying to still her hands by her side. She could feel her child moving slowly downward, the pain deadly but still manageable.

"Are you cold?" He asked, as she continued to shudder. She was impressed by his concern.

"Sometimes women experience high blood pressure due to the stress of labour. It is accompanied with dry sweats and uncontrollable shaking. Apparently, that must be why I..." But she stopped talking as another contraction swallowed her and then, before she could react to the pain, she felt the need to push outweigh her pain.

"I need Eleanor." Hermione said through gritted teeth. He stood promptly and walked out into the hall.

"Let's see, Hermione." Healer Eleanor checked Hermione again and smiled sweetly. Hermione was dilated to ten and fully effaced.

"Okay, Hermione, the next time you feel the urge to push, bear down and push." Hermione leaned forward a bit as Eleanor helped her to the edge of the bed. Severus stood, gaping at the doorway afraid to enter and see something so personal and private.

"If you want to make yourself useful, you can move the pillows around her back, if not, please go to the waiting room." Eleanor said blankly to him and watched as he moved to Hermione's side and packed the pillows around her lower back.

"Do you feel it now, dear?" Eleanor asked, watching Hermione's face for a sign of the pain.

"Yes, it's coming." Hermione replied as she leaned forward a bit more and pushed as hard and long as she could. She fell back slightly and wondered if all of this was making Severus uncomfortable. He was standing behind her, so she couldn't see his face or expression. She needed to make sure he wasn't disgusted or embarrassed.

"Can I hold your hand?" Hermione asked, getting him to lean down to hear her light words.

"Yes." He replied, taking her left hand in his right.

"The head is crowning, Hermione, one soft push now." Severus put his free arm around her shoulders and massaged gently as he watched her in so much pain, yet so happy still that a smile was on her face.

"Now we just need to get the shoulders out." Hermione screamed loudly as the shoulders began to pass. Severus' presence eased her mind more than she thought it would and his gentle massage helped the stiffness in her back.

"One more good push, come on Hermione, you can do it." Eleanor said, her hands in Hermione's nether regions, slowly pulling the baby out. Eleanor began suctioning the fluid from the baby's nasal passage and also the throat before helping Hermione remove the baby. Hermione pushed one final time and swore that if it didn't come this time, Eleanor would just have to pull it out because she couldn't push anymore.

"It's a girl, Hermione, a beautiful baby girl." Hermione's eyes looked quickly over her infant who was sticky and slimy in afterbirth. Her eyes filled immediately with tears of such happiness that she couldn't contain herself.

"She's okay?" Hermione asked, hearing her whimpering cry and wondering if she was developed enough to go home soon.

"Let me clean her up and perform some spells and make sure. She looks great, though." Healer Eleanor replied to a distressed Hermione.

"She weighs six pounds even and is nineteen inches long." Eleanor boasted, wrapping her up tight in a lavender blanket and handing her to Hermione. "She is healthy, dear, and has a good set of lungs."

"She is perfect." Hermione said, holding her tight to her breasts and cooing with her. "She is healthy, isn't that wonderful Severus." But when she turned to see his reaction to the baby, she was met with a man who seemed quite distraught.

"Severus, are you alright?" She asked, her free hand coming to meet his arm, but all he did was stare at Hermione's face, not saying a word. Hermione turned her attention back to her daughter and smiled, she had a daughter, her own child.

"Severus, if you don't feel comfortable being here, you don't have to stay, I'll understand. I know the experience of watching a child being birthed is traumatizing to men, so you don't have to act courageous, I'll understand completely." Hermione said, rubbing his sleeve, her eyes on the baby.

"Can I hold her?" She heard groggily from his lips. Hermione focused on him again and scooted over a bit to make room for him to sit next to her as he looked quite peckish.

"Here, watch her head." He sneered at her and took the baby from her grasp and cradled her against his own chest. It had been many years since he'd held a baby. He remembered holding Harrison after his birth, but this was different. He hadn't been in the room with Sarah or witnessed the birth and from what he could see, Hermione was a strong woman.

"She has very dark hair." He stated, looking over at Hermione.

"Yes, she does and eyes too. Hers aren't blue like most baby's." Hermione brought a hand to touch her daughter's hair and saw that it was curly like hers had been.

"Poor thing inherited my curls. I guess she was doomed from the beginning with both of us having curly hair." Hermione said, holding one of the baby's hands in hers.

"Did you want a girl?" She heard Eleanor ask as she scuttled around the room writing things and cleaning Hermione up.

"I didn't until I held her, I mean I didn't have a preference, but a girl is exactly what I wanted." Hermione took the baby from Severus' arms and handed her back to Eleanor.

"We'll just take her to have the rest of the tests run and to give you some rest." Hermione nodded and watched as the healer strolled out of the room and down the long hallway.

"I feel completely exhausted." Hermione said, her hands running down the length of her body, her stomach seemed instantly flatter, yet it was still round. Her thighs ached and her feet were throbbing, but she had a daughter.

"Do you have a name picked out?" He asked her, still next to her on the bed. Of all the things he'd seen in his life, both glorious and horrible, nothing could compare to what he had just witnessed.

"Yes, I picked it out here, the last time." She sighed and shivered against his shoulder.

"Are you cold now?" He asked, but in return all he got was another shiver as she slowly drifted back onto the pillows and then slowly into dreamland.

"Thank you for staying with me, Severus, I needed someone to be with me, I couldn't have done this alone." She whispered, yawning and stretching her arms.

"I don't know what to say, except that I hope she is alright and that you can rest now." He stood swiftly and glanced at the door trying, hoping he could escape before uttering something he couldn't take back.

"If my husband hadn't died, I don't know where we would be right now. Would he have wanted a daughter? Would he have been happy to have another child or would he have changed his mind? Would her dark hair and eyes have made him think she wasn't his child or maybe, would he have loved me less because she wasn't more like Henry. I guess hypothetical questions serve no real purpose and I'll never know how Wallace feels about the daughter we created together, but I know in my heart he would be grateful that I had someone with me to help take care of me and make sure I was feeling well. And I will never forget this day, this last hour being so close to you and knowing that I could trust you with my personal life. I will understand if this all makes you uncomfortable and if you don't want such a close relationship in the future, but for today, I am thankful I had you with me. And I..." She stopped, her yawns becoming more frequent as he stood stiffly at the door. His eyes bore into hers a longing she had never seen from him before.

"You don't have to finish you sentence, Madame Stuart, I understand you wholly." He rolled the doorknob with his palm and opened the door to greet the people in the hallway that wanted to know how she was fairing.

"But I want you to know, Severus, I want you to know how I feel." Hermione pleaded, sleep trying desperately to take over her body.

"Tomorrow, tell me tomorrow when you've rested and had time to think."

"I don't need another day, I don't need another minute. I want you..." Hermione's brain shifted quickly into sleep and a light snore emanated from her body as he waited, wondering what she was going to say.

"I want you too." He said, opening the door and leaving the room.

**Author's note: Thanks for everyone who has read my story thus far. I had a bit of a crisis about three weeks ago when my Mother threw out all of my hard disks to clear up space on our desk. Apparently she believes you can only use them once...yadda yadda yadda.**

**Anyways, I wanted to let everyone know that because of this, I had to rewrite everything that wasn't posted thus far, so it's been a long haul. I wrote nineteen pages in less that two weeks. So, if you like my story, please be patient and know that I have every intention on** **finishing it, even if it isn't tomorrow. Thanks bunches!**


	16. She Will Be Esteemed

Disclaimer: I do not own, or ever will, the Harry Potter Universe so wonderfully created by J K Rowling. Please do not sue; I highly doubt I could afford it. Thanks to all that reviewed, I am amazed at how many of you didn't give up on me. Thanks again!!!

**Chapter 13: She Will Be Esteemed**

Hours later, after Hermione had rested and refreshed her senses, she looked around her room and wondered where Severus had gone. She sat up, the pain in her abdomen gone, but tingles of old pain remained there and a great deal of soreness. Her daughter had come quick and unexpectedly the previous night. Hermione looked over to the bassinet beside her bed and saw that her daughter was sleeping soundly, so she leaned into it and folded her arms around the lavender blanket she was bundled in. Hermione felt overcome with emotion immediately when she noticed her daughter had Wallace's hands. His hands were long and slender, the nails always carefully manicured so that they wouldn't interfere with potion work and hers were exactly the same. In her head, she'd yet to call her daughter by her name, it didn't seem real just yet until she could present her to her family.

"Madame Stuart, will you need guidance in breast feeding the baby?" Another Healer Hermione didn't recognize asked as the baby began to whimper.

"I think I have the basic concept." Hermione replied, a little embarrassed by the woman's presence during something so personal and unique. She uncovered the baby's face and brought her to her chest, wondering if perhaps she would be successful in her task of feeding her daughter. She'd never imagined doing anything else, it had always been important to her that she partake in the breastfeeding process.

"Is everything working?" The healer asked, looking over to Hermione and the baby.

"Yes, perfectly, she seems to understand what she's supposed to do very well." Hermione said. Several minutes later, the healer walked over to help Hermione move the baby to the other side.

"She's a hearty appetite." The healer mused, smiling down on Hermione.

"It seems she does. I've read, though, that sometimes the process takes quite a long time for babies to adjust to. Do most first time mothers have difficulty breastfeeding?" Hermione asked, kissing the baby's head as she leaned forward. She smelled sweetly of violets.

"Some do, but I think it depends on the babies. Most take a week or two." The healer nodded to Hermione before closing the door behind her. It felt odd being alone with the baby as she'd never really had an infant to take care of and wasn't exactly sure what to do. She was fed, didn't need a change, and was clean; what was next? The baby's slight whimper answered her question and she decided to sing her a little song. It was a hymnal she remembered from visiting her Gram's church when she was a child. Immediately, the child stopped whimpering and stared at Hermione with her dark, fathomless eyes. Hermione knew that her vision wasn't so developed that she could see her face, but she hoped that the baby did know her.

"Night, sweetheart." Hermione whispered as the baby's slowly closed. She leaned over to the bassinet and slowly placed her in the middle, trying not to wake her. The lavender blanket lay softly on top of the baby as Hermione continued to hum and slowly lull herself into a deep sleep. Morning would come soon enough and she would not have the chance to nap while others helped keep an eye on the infant.

"Hermione..." Hermione stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes to see someone at her door, whispering her name.

"Sallie?" Hermione questioned as her eyes adjusted to the new morning sun. She rubbed her eyes and sat up stiffly as the urge to use the loo overwhelmed all of her other senses.

"How are you?" Sallie asked, whispering again as she closed in on the new Mum and her daughter.

"Sallie, why are you here?" Hermione asked as the door to the room closed stiffly behind Sallie. "I asked them not to contact you." She added.

"Ron and I knew something was troubling you at the ceremony, so we decided to find you after everyone left, but no one knew where you were until Uncle Severus's head showed up in the floo at the Burrow. Why did you hide this, Hermione?" Sallie asked, gazing down at the baby in the bassinet.

"I didn't want to ruin your day." Hermione replied sombrely realizing she hadn't his the pain of her labour or discomfort very well.

"But the birth of a baby is such a blessed and glorious thing, how could she ever ruin anything?" Sallie beamed, remembering how precious Harrison had been at birth. Only a mother could love a newborn, their scrunchy faces and odd shaped heads.

"May I hold her?" Sallie asked.

"Of course." Hermione replied watching Sallie lean into the bassinet and take the baby into her arms.

"What is her name, Hermione, I feel so odd not calling her something." Hermione thought to the week before, when she'd been in the same hospital and of the names she'd picked out in her mind for her child. She'd wanted Wallace to be prominent in the naming process as it was still his child as well, but she also wanted to give credit to Severus who had saved her daughter.

"Her full name is Anya Sidney Granger-Stuart, but I am going to call her Sidney."

"Sidney suits her very well." Sallie gushed, laughing as Sidney cooed and slobbered on the blanket.

"Uncle Severus wouldn't let anyone come to visit you until this morning. We all tried to sneak in last night, but he stood at the door the whole time. I've never seen him so determined." Hermione fidgeted with her blanket and laughed nervously towards Sallie, who seemed oblivious to Hermione's uncomfortable laugh.

"Where did she get all this dark hair from?" Sallie asked, running her hands over the smooth roundness of Sidney's head.

" Mine was that colour when I was born and my eyes too, were that dark I mean. They lightened as I grew older."

"The healer said Uncle Severus was with you the entire time, was he civil?" Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she let go of her blanket, remembering his stunned face after Sidney had been delivered. He'd seemed so fragile and meek, his eyes horrid and impassioned at the same time. She couldn't remember quite what she'd said to him before falling asleep, but she knew in her heart that she'd finally admitted that she harboured feelings for him.

"What's wrong, are you okay?" Sallie asked, noticing Hermione's tears that had been silently forming for the seconds after Sallie had asked her question.

"I feel as though I am betraying my husbands memory. I just gave birth to his daughter and my thoughts are on someone else. He's not been dead a year yet and I have set my affections on someone else." Hermione cried out. She couldn't contain her plight any longer. In that instant, she knew Sallie understood exactly what had been plaguing Hermione. After all, she'd seen it developing for months.

"Sometimes things happen that we cannot change. You didn't ask for Wallace to die and just the same, you didn't ask to fall for someone else."

"You waited three years to marry again." Hermione retorted.

"I didn't find Ron until much later, and I wouldn't have been ready any sooner. I was only seventeen when I married Draco and completely unprepared. It is real with Ron, I know it is."

"I feel guilty and unscrupulous. I was holding his hand as I was pushing and, I don't even know if I can admit this...somewhere, in my heart, I wanted her to be his." Hermione murmured, burying her face in her hands, knowing that by admitting her intense emotions to Sallie, they had become real. She waited for Sallie's reply, wondering if she thought her utterly insane or selfish.

"You may very well have his child in the future." Sallie replied, trying not to imagine her Uncle copulating with a woman. She smiled towards Hermione and then down at Sidney. Sidney...where had she heard that name before.

"Where did you find her name?" Sallie asked.

"Anya was Wallace's mother's middle name and he asked that we use it if we ever had a girl. The last time I was in the hospital, Ron thought it would be a respectable idea to give my child a name after Severus because he's helped me so much and saved the baby. So, I decided that if I had a girl, she would be Anya Sidney and if I had a boy, he would be Olivier Aureliano. And since I never really liked the name Anya, I chose to call her Sidney and now I couldn't imagine anything else." Sallie looked once more from Hermione to Sidney and smiled, she couldn't imagine a more fitting name either.

"Have you told Uncle yet?"

"No, I didn't get a chance." Hermione laughed a bit and then grinned as Sallie handed Sidney to her, all bundled in her lavender blanket.

"I think she's getting hungry." Hermione said, as Sidney's whimpers grew louder.

"I am hopeful for you, Hermione. And congratulate you on such a fine daughter. Sidney is remarkable." Sallie patted her hand and kissed her cheek softly. Hermione hadn't ever had many female friends and she had rather liked it that way, but Sallie's friendship meant a great deal to her. Sallie didn't mind that Hermione cared for her Uncle and that pleased Hermione a great deal.

"I'll send the others in after she's eaten." Sallie said, opening the door and exiting with a knowing smile traced on her pale lips. Hermione untied the ribbons holding her gown together and helped Sidney to nurse. She wondered what the name meant and then thought to look it up later that evening when she was finally home and rested. Of course, the aurors would still be present, yet she felt much less putout that she thought she would. It would be comforting to have someone around in case anything should happen. Sidney's face flicked open and closed as she nursed. Hermione wondered what her daughter would grow up to be, if she would be a witch, or if she would forgive Hermione for all the wrong and ill-thought-out things she'd done in her life. She wondered also, if all daughters hated their Mum's or had troubled relationships with them. Kissing her forehead, and tying her gown back together, Hermione realized twenty minutes had passed. She wiped Sidney's tiny mouth and placed her on her thighs, bringing her knees closer to her chest.

"What a precious baby." Hermione said, envying her daughter's pink, flawless skin and perfect dimples.

"Mummy loves you already, Sidney." Hermione nuzzled the tiny girls against her chest and giggled a little, feeling completely happy for the first time in a while.

"Ready for company?" Sallie asked, peeking in the door.

"Yes, that's fine." Hermione fixed her gown to make sure nothing could be seen and cradled Sidney in her arms. Harry and Ginny came in first, then Ron, Arthur and Molly Weasley, and lastly Albus and Minerva. She felt blessed to have such first-rate friends and family. Sidney had remained docile during the event and Hermione hoped she would remain such a content baby.

"We'll be returning shortly to your home in Hogsmeade, so gather your luggage and I will prepare the rest." Severus said, coming into the room some five hours later after both Hermione and Sidney had been cleared health wise. Upon opening the door, he'd caught Hermione scooping Sidney in her arms. She seemed so naturally a mother, so comfortable and fresh. He was amazed at the fact that even though she seemed quite exhausted and drained, a constant smile was on her face.

"We'll be right along." Hermione cooed, wrapping a fleece blanket around Sidney. She shrank the bags she'd brought and placed then in her knapsack, which she didn't shrink down.

"Can you hold her for a second, I've got to use the loo." Hermione asked, staring promisingly towards Severus.

"Very well." He replied, taking the tiny girl in his arms and peering down at her face. The fluffy lavender of her blanket made a stark contrast against his black wizarding robes.

"You are going to be trouble." He whispered as Sidney opened her eyes and locked with his. He noticed that they seemed less black and greyer. He also noticed that along the edges of her face there was a honey tint to her curly locks; much like her mother's hair. The more he stared down at the infant, the more he thought of Hermione. He'd seen the baby birthed, a sight no man could ever imagine for what it truly was: gruesome, gooey, and glorious. And the sheer strength of Hermione's labour; she had yelled and squeezed his hand, but hadn't asked for any numbing potions. He admired her strength a great deal. A slight snivel brought him back to his right mind and he focused again on the baby's face.

"Is she acceptable?" Hermione asked, coming out of the bathroom and enjoying the sight before her.

"She's an infant, they all look the same." He replied dryly. Hermione's face fell slightly and then, she decided it didn't matter if he thought Sidney was beautiful or not, because Hermione would always believe she was.

"You haven't asked her name." Hermione noticed, as they stepped out of Osgood's Hospital onto the apparation point.

"No, I have not." She paused before him and sighed, he seemed so nonchalant and unfeeling. Had she misinterpreted his affections? Had she let her own feelings cloud the real feelings he shared for her or maybe didn't.

"I can take her back now, thanks." Hermione said, pushing her knapsack up her arm and reaching for the infant, the smile that hadn't left her face for over twenty-four hours was now gone. Sidney now bundled against her chest, she wondered if her affections for him had been magnified by the fact that she had given birth and lost her spouse.

"Are you ready, or do we need to waste another five minutes staring blankly down the street." Hermione met his eyes briefly and thought perhaps she saw something like disgust. She looked down at her clothes, her fuchsia summer dress and hunter green cloak seemed to look presentable. Sidney was presentable as well in her honey coloured jumper and white cotton pants, altogether too big, but nothing seemed out of place, why would he be disgusted with her?

"I believe I can make it home without a guide." She stated, pulling her overcoat tighter around her shoulders as Sidney rested in her free arm.

"I am required to accompany you home."

"I relieve you of your duty, Master Snape, and ask that you refrain from following me." Hermione quipped, downtrodden and sickened in her heart and stomach. What had happened between the night and morning to remove his kind words and emotion-filled glances? She turned from him and began walking towards a red telephone booth near the hospital to call on Willet, Wallace's Mum.

"Are you trying to get yourself kidnapped?" He asked, silky and smooth in her ear. It wasn't enough that he had insulted her wandering mind, now he was insulting her intelligence.

"You aren't my keeper, and now that I can use magic again, I doubt anyone will be sneaking up on me to steal me away. I can't imagine anyone who would want me now, Wallace's papers are destroyed, and I am quite hormonal, that's enough to drive any man away." She said through clenched teeth as not to raise her voice or frighten Sidney. She didn't want people to yell around her daughter.

"You are being stubborn, Hermione."

"And you have turned into a pumpkin again." She replied, remembering Cinderella from her youth and recognizing his distinct change in personality like the pumpkin, mice, and girl. She decided against using the telephone and walked past him back to the apparation point and breathed in a deep breath as tears invaded her eyes. She couldn't stop them, she couldn't stop her heart from pounding so recklessly against her chest. Sidney began to cry as well, the first wail she'd let loose in her first twenty-four hours.

"Sidney, please don't cry, I'm sorry sweetheart, Mummy didn't mean to get upset." Hermione shushed the tiny girl into a calmed state once more and locked eyes with Severus. It wasn't healthy for her to be feeling such horrible and painful things. She felt foolish and imprudent looking at him now. Had she really confused her feelings so tragically?

"Thank you for staying with me during this ordeal and for..." She paused, she didn't know what to say. He'd been like a husband to her, a lover so aware of her feelings and passion and yet, she should've known he wasn't capable of such affections. She could recall many times in her life when he'd been more than cruel and less forgiving. How could she have forgotten so many hateful slurs, glances, and spells?

"Goodbye." She whispered, closing her eyes as not to have another painful image to add to the others. She landed on her doorstep seconds later and hoped he hadn't followed her. She wanted freedom to think about what had happened, if she had overreacted to his normal, callous behaviour or if he didn't care for her at all. She smiled softly down at Sidney, but the happiness of her daughter, for an instant, did not outweigh the unhappiness of her situation. Before she willed herself through the door, she thought of his face when he'd taken Sidney in his arms and seemed so content, if only for the brief time in which he seemed to have let down his shield and become human. She felt silly, a fool in admitting to Sallie that she felt such deep fondness for him. It wasn't love, as she hadn't devoted herself so completely to him; yet, in her heart she knew it was more than friendship or a passing fancy.

"I'm scheduled for the first shift." Remus Lupin said, opening the door for her and taking her knapsack off her arm.

"How was the trip?" He asked as she removed the heavier fleece blanket from Sidney and began to climb the insurmountable stairs.

"Where is Severus? He was supposed to come back with you so there were two of us to help, in case you needed it." Remus continued, following her up the stairs and around the corner to her bedroom.

"I don't know where he is." Hermione replied, taking a seat in her rocking chair and pulling Sidney closer to her body.

"Has something happened?" He asked, his eyes soft and fatherly looking towards the baby.

"_Nothing_ has happened." Hermione countered, starting to hum and rock. She wanted the first days of Sidney's life to be without turmoil and pain, yet she'd gone and mucked up another relationship. Remus beamed towards her and closed the door slowly allowing her privacy.

"Call me if you need me." He said, lightly.

"Thank you, Remus." Hermione replied, softening to his voice. She'd always respected him and found him calming. Before laying Sidney in her new bassinet, she kissed her cheeks again and then her forehead, it was odd to her how something could change a person so quickly. She loved her daughter, her son who had yet to see his sister, and the memory of her husband that had vanished for a moment, but had returned. She loved Wallace, she'd wanted to have a child with him desperately and now she had his daughter, her daughter. Sidney closed her large eyes and breathed softly.

"I love you." Hermione said strongly and with hope to the little girl. She hoped she had misread Severus's intentions that morning and that eventually, they could talk about Sidney's birth and the fiasco of watching said birth. She hoped he wouldn't become a stranger again because she'd rather gotten used to him being around. Her eyes flittered with tears again and she hoped the effect wouldn't last much longer as she was tired crying and needed a good nights sleep.

Up the road, Severus apparated home confused and downtrodden. Had he done something ill towards her? He couldn't recall doing anything out of the ordinary, but then he did have a skewed view on what was ordinary.

"What happened?" Sallie asked as she and Ron came out of the breakfast room with their bags, leaving for Spain.

"I don't know." He replied, shaking his head.

"Is Hermione alright?" Ron asked, locking eyes with Sallie and then with Severus.

"I don't know." He replied again. He walked past them to the bar to pour himself a fire whiskey and relax.

"Is she home?" Sallie asked, now a bit put off by his nonchalance.

"Yes, I believe so. She wouldn't let me accompany her home this evening."

"What did you do?" Sallie asked, putting her bags down on the floor and folding her arms.

"Watch that cheek, Sarah, you may be a married woman now, but that does not give you the right to talk to me in such an impertinent manner." He barked at her.

"It's clear now, perfectly clear. You weren't talking to her this way this afternoon, were you?" Sallie replied, ignoring his previous comment.

"In what way am I speaking?"

"Like you're talking out of your arse, that's how. Sometimes I can't believe we're related the way you treat people. Hermione was so delighted when I left her, she told me all these amazing things and now, I can almost guarantee she's hopeless." Sallie looked to Ron, who seemed completely ambivalent to the situation and then at her bags. She had never talked to her Uncle that way before or expressed her feelings so powerfully. It felt extremely empowering.

"Sallie, maybe we should get going and let your Uncle relax, he has been at the hospital a long time." Ron quipped, shrinking their bags and bringing them on his lap.

"Sidney, did she name her Sidney?" Severus asked, sipping his drink and then shooting it all in one fell swoop.

"Yes, Anya Sidney. Anya is some family name on Wallace's side and Sidney is for you, Uncle, for all that you've done for her. It was Ron's idea and Hermione really liked the name anyway." Sallie walked over to him and took his arm in the crook of hers, hoping to talk some sense into him.

"I know you have trouble expressing yourself sometimes, Uncle Severus, and I know you don't ever admit when you are wrong, but obviously you have done something wrong because if you hadn't, you would be with Hermione now and not here, alone." Sallie squeezed his hand and followed Ron out of the breakfast room.

"Anya Sidney." He said, aloud to no one in particular. "Sidney." The name melted on his lips with the fire whiskey and he instantly remembered the night in the hospital when she asked him what his middle name was. He remembered how pleased she'd seemed, as well. In that moment, he vowed to discover what he had done to make her so unhappy and cross and to explain to her how highly he regarded her now, that he esteemed her above all others.

Author's note: To the issue on the time of water breaking and birth and such... The ceremony of the wedding was around three-ish and the reception around four-ish. I stated that she didn't think her contractions had started until later, but they did in the morning. Her water broke around 4:30, then she went home around 5:00 and then at 8:00 they went to the hospital. They spent about an hour in labour there and she was born around nine thirty...it was a short birth, but I attribute it to Hermione having already been in labour once before. My mother had me rather quickly and also my brother, so I am better at writing short births. Hope that cleared some things up...


	17. Tea for Two

Disclaimer: I do not own, or ever will, the Harry Potter Universe so wonderfully created by J K Rowling. Please do not sue; I highly doubt I could afford it. Thanks to all that reviewed, I am amazed at how many of you didn't give up on me. Thanks again!

**Chapter 14:Tea For Two**

**"**Hermione, would you like some tea?" Hermione heard as her door slowly creaked open. She opened her eyes briefly, hoping it was Severus who was talking and then shut them as Remus's dark brows presented themselves upon closer inspection.

"Yes, that would be nice. You have been quite kind." She drew a deep breath and then sat up straight, her eyes travelled leisurely from Remus's hazel orbs to her sleeping daughter's tiny form. Immediately, her eyes filled with tears of such happiness and she stood, pain trickling through her legs, walking to her daughters side.

"Sidney, you are a perfect angel." She whispered, lifting her daughter's form from the bassinet and laying her across her shoulder. The rocking chair seemed the best place to sit, so she walked stiffly over to the chair and sat gently on the padded the surface. Her eyes hadn't stopped crying and she felt so much in just seeing the eyes of her child, the last remaining morsel of her husband.

"Your father would have loved you dearly, Sidney. He would've bought you everything and anything you wanted and never worried that you were spoiled. Your Papa would've given you more than I can, but I will try, I promise." Hermione leaned down and brushed her lips slowly across Sidney's forehead.

"What a lovely picture you two make. It seems only yesterday you were raising your hand in my Defence against the Dark Arts class, only yesterday." Remus remarked cautiously opening her door and setting the tea beside her bed.

"May I hold her?" He asked, coming to her side. Hermione smiled, wiped her eyes and lifted Sidney slightly above her face and watched as Remus took the small bundle in his large, but frail arms. If she squinted and rubbed her eyes, for an ephemeral moment, she could imagine Wallace holding his daughter. It was then that she vowed to take Sidney with her to Wallace's grave, for introductions and reflection.

"I am sorry I was so cold with you earlier, Remus, it was a very confusing morning." Sidney whimpered a bit and Remus turned back to Hermione, arms out-stretched and ready to hand off the tiny girl.

"Whenever Severus is involved, it can become confusing. In fact, this is for you, Ronald dropped it by before he and Sallie left for the rest of their honeymoon." Hermione looked down at the yellowed envelope and sighed. It would be one of two things: a letter of good or a letter of denial. She rather didn't want to read it at all.

"Thank you, again." Hermione said, taking the letter and setting it on her bedside table.

"Kingsley will take over in one half-hour and then Bill Weasley in the morning." He bowed and walked with kindness from the room. If there were a teacher she respected as much as McGonagall and Dumbledore, it was Remus J. Lupin.

Hours later after Sidney was fed and resting again, Hermione brought her bassinet into the bathroom with her so she could have a bath. She was utterly thankful to the medi witches at Osgood's for their extemporary talents at healing charms, she hardly felt any discomfort at all aside from minor pains in her legs. The water felt pleasing against her skin and once she was perfectly wrinkled, she dried off and returned to her bedroom, Sidney in tow.

"Let's read our letter from Master Snape, hmmm Sidney?" Hermione nestled Sidney close to her chest and slowly tore the seal of Severus' letter.

"Hermione, I do hope both you and Sidney are well. The first shift I am to administer is tomorrow evening and I wanted to confirm that the arrangement was still agreeable. If at all possible, I would like to call upon you tomorrow before the evening shift to make amends for the indiscretion that occurred this morning. Please send reply via my owl, Tiburon, who will be waiting once the seal of this letter has been broken.

Yours, etc.

Master Severus Snape."

Hermione smiled inwardly and hoped that whatever he had felt or she had misunderstood would be solved. She hadn't really understood how much she cared for Severus until she saw his face after Sidney was born. It had been blank and fathomless, yet so full of eagerness and determination that she felt that he must care for her as well. Immediately, she placed Sidney in her basinet and walked to her desk to pen a letter.

"Severus, Thank you for inquiring as to Sidney and my health, we are both well thank you. Please do come for tea tomorrow around eleven, Sidney and I will be expecting you.

Yours affectionately, HJS"

Hermione sealed the letter and went to her window where Tiburon was waiting to take her letter back to Severus. She smiled awkwardly towards Severus' home and sighed, wondering just exactly what she might be getting herself into by letting him come to tea, for endeavouring to admit her feelings to him. She looked at Sidney's face once more and then lay still on her bed, thinking how odd she felt not to have a child inside of her any longer. It was an eerie stillness, like learning to sleep without Wallace.

"Do you need help down the stairs?" Hermione looked up as Bill Weasley yelled from the bottom of the stairs, she laughed a bit. Sometimes the Weasley boys were so naïve.

"That's fine, Bill, I can manage it." She took the first couple steps and then the others in stride; it wasn't as though she was learning to walk again. Sidney never stirred on her first trip into the kitchen. Hermione placed her bassinet on the kitchen table and then proceeded to make tea. It was almost eleven and she wanted everything to be some semblance of perfect.

"Do come in, Professor." Hermione heard Bill say as a harsh knock came upon her front door. She smoothed her robes and caught her reflection for a second in the mirror above her wind stand and gasped. Her hair was in soft, short ringlets around her face, completely devoid of frizz of any kind. Her eyes weren't puffy or red, they were a deep hazelnut, and full of colours she'd never seen before.

"Good morning, Severus." Hermione said assuredly and motioned that he take a seat next to her at the table. She bowed a bit and smiled as he came to sit across from her. Sidney cooed slightly next to Hermione and in an instant, Hermione's eye turned to hers. She wanted so much for Severus to be kind to her again.

"Good morning, Hermione and Sidney." Severus whispered, his face full of anguish and sadness. He rested his hands on her table and tapped slightly against it, nervously. Hermione had never seen him so ill at ease.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked him, standing to grab the cups and saucers from the cupboard and then the teapot.

"Yes, that would be satisfactory." Once the words left his lips, he regretted them. He sounded disinterested in her cordiality.

"Sidney slept for four hours straight last night. I read that most infants keep their parents up for a great deal of time adjusting, but I guess she isn't going to be cranky." Hermione said, bringing the teapot to the table and pouring his cup. As she poured her own, a bit of water splashed out at her in her haste and she quickly set the teapot down.

"I seem to have a problem with boiling water." She gushed with embarrassment. She wanted nothing more than to have the awkward setting reversed and had a chance to redo the entire thing.

"No mustard this time I hope." He quipped. Her eyes flashed to his momentarily angry and then relieved to see he was trying to be comedic. She waved her wand over the burned area and then sat back across from him, scrutinizing his every move. He hadn't commented on her hair, her appearance, or on Sidney's changes. Hermione could see such a change in her daughter's appearance over night.

"Is Harrison staying with you?" She asked, sipping her tea and then moving her eyes over to Sidney.

"Yes."

"I wanted to go ahead and start evaluating Atticus before summer, do you think he would be able to come by sometime this week?" Hermione put her cup on her saucer and winced as the porcelain clinked against the saucer.

"I am sure we can manage the time frame." He replied, finishing his tea in one gulp. Hadn't he written something about wanting to make amends for his behaviour at the hospital, she wondered? Sidney began to snivel from her bassinet, causing Hermione's attention to be diverted once more from his uneasiness. He watched her lean over the bassinet, he hair cascading around the baby's tiny form. Instantly, he noticed her hair had taken a very fine, silky sheen and her skin a lustrous tone, so different from the tone she'd had the previous day.

"You look radiant." He stated, coming to her side over Sidney's bassinet. She blushed, offered Sidney a pacifier and waited to see if she was still unhappy. Severus' breath was warm on her neck as they stood over the newborn and for once, Hermione wanted nothing more than to be exactly as they were, admiring such a superb child.

"I hadn't noticed my hair until just now in the mirror. I've read that sometimes women experience changes in their physical appearance once they give birth, but I rather thought nothing could get worse." She retorted, mentally smacking herself hoping he didn't take her comment for more than it was. She turned slightly to meet his eyes and saw only admiration in them and for an instant wondered if he could ever care for her as much as she was coming to care for him.

"It was lovely before, it's just tame now." He laughed, bringing a hand to the mass and running his fingers throughout. Hermione averted her eyes for a second or to and then met his again and saw that his face was merely centimetres from hers. His scent intoxicated her, it was sage and sandalwood in one illuminating whiff and she lost her thoughts.

"I am sorry I hurt you so, Hermione. I only wanted your safety and when you wouldn't leave with me, I became so aggravated. You do not understand the danger you are still in and I won't let you put yourself in harm's way once more, or Sidney's for that matter." His voice pleaded with her and for once, Hermione believed that he was entirely sincere.

"I wish I hadn't overreacted. There was a moment, when we were first out of the hospital when you looked at me with a look I attributed to disgust and I couldn't help it if you felt so poorly of me."

"I only wanted to leave and quickly. I could never find any _disgust_ in you, Hermione." He rolled the word disgust off of his tongue as if it were the most vile curse in the English language and then, his hands found themselves around her face, stroking her tears away. He'd truly come to care for her, as he hadn't for anyone in many years.

"I feel …" Hermione started, but her words were lost on his lips as they met hers. She felt his hands go through her hair and then onto her shoulders, pulling her body closer to his and rubbing the peak of her back in small circles. Her legs became weak and her eyes watered even more so as he hugged her tightly, releasing himself from their kiss and pulling her entirely against his body. She could feel his passion, his need for their closeness. It wasn't sexual, it wasn't animal, and it was human. Severus needed her touch, her humanity. She didn't want to move or say anything; afraid of breaking whatever connection they had formed. Instead of saying anything, Hermione brought her hand to his eyes and traced the outline of his face, the smoothness of his skin, the softness of his lips. It was as if she was seeing him for the first time.

"I am sorry I behaved so immaturely, I was so afraid you had been disgusted with me and Sidney's birth. I didn't want to lose you, I know it's selfish and aside from being neighbours and associated for so long, I don't actually know you very well. I didn't want to lose the chance of getting to know you better, to kiss you like we just did." Hermione whispered against his chest as her head came to rest subtly under his chin. She had never been so forward in her life and hoped that he wouldn't reject her now, now that she had admitted her feelings to him.

"I can't say that I'll never disappoint you again, but I will endeavour not to. I would like to know you better as well, and Sidney too. I feel, felt, and honoured to witness her birth and to hopefully be of some assistance and comfort to you." Hermione lifted her head and consumed him in another kiss before pulling away and sipping her tea. She didn't want to seem desperate or too forward, she wanted Severus to know she cared for him without making him feel obligated to return her affection.

"Would you like another cup?"

"Yes, and a biscuit as well." He took his seat across from her and although he didn't smile or hint at his happiness, for the first time in twenty-one years, he was content. Hermione poured their tea and sat across from him, the cup resting gently on her lips where a smile had remained. In her heart, she wondered if she could ever care for someone the way she had for her husband, the man she had created her daughter with and yet in her mind, she didn't want to question anything. If there was one universal fact about Severus Snape, it was that he was entirely unpredictable and for once in her life, she wanted to be unpredictable too.

"Mum? Mum are you in the kitchen" Hermione heard from behind her.

"Henry, we're in here." She called back, gulping her tea and standing to meet him as he walked through the door. She was stunned to see him; all that she remembered when he'd left for school was different.

"You've changed so much." She whispered as her arms engulfed him in a breathtaking hug.

"Only gotten taller Mum. How are you, Master Snape? Where is my sister" Severus fidgeted with the length of his napkin and sighed, hoping Henry wouldn't be odd about his being alone with his mother.

"She's over there in the bassinet." Hermione followed him to the bassinet and watched as his eyes lit up in joy. "Did Headmaster Dumbledore sanction this little visit"

"Of course, Mr. Lupin collected me a while ago. She has Dad's eyes." Henry remarked, lifting the tiny form of his sister and cradling her tightly in his growing arms. When his face finally met Hermione's again, Hermione saw tears bristling on the surface of his eyes and rushed to him.

"What's wrong, Henry" She asked in a hushed tone, smoothing the sandy blonde hair from his face.

"She won't ever know him like I did. She won't have memories like I do. Dad trying to put up the Christmas lights on our house without magic, and then falling off the roof. Making breakfast in bed, eggs and kippers in syrup. Taking us to Quidditch games and reading me books, every night no matter how tired he was." He stopped and handed Sidney to Hermione before taking a seat next to Severus at the breakfast table.

"Then you'll have to tell her about him, Henry. That's what big brothers are for, to teach and help their siblings." Hermione stroked her daughters back and then placed her back in the pink and purple bassinet.

"Can we visit him soon" Henry's voice was low and melancholy, yet his eyes seemed refreshed now that he'd had a good cry.

"Of course, dear, I was planning on taking Sidney sometime, we'll go soon." Hermione patted his shoulders and met Severus's eye, surprisingly he didn't look as uncomfortable as Hermione thought he would.

"Let's eat some lunch, what would you two like" Hermione asked walking to the icebox to retrieve some left over roast and potatoes. Her eyes travelled to Severus's once more and smiled, she could finally openly smile at him without fear of being inappropriate or that her affections would be misconstrued.

"Why don't you sit down, Mum, I can make something. Michael and I had to help the house elves make lunch one day as punishment." She laughed at his comment and took a seat next to Severus at the table.

"I don't whether I should be angry or pleased, Henry Stuart." Her laughed surprised both Severus and Henry as neither expected so much happiness from her. When Henry was busy in the kitchen preparing lunch, Hermione placed her hand gently atop Severus's and sighed.

"I am sorry is that was uncomfortable." She whispered.

"It was personal, not uncomfortable. And before you venture to the resting, you must make sure to have an auror or better with you, nothing is secure as of yet."

"Thank you, Severus, I will make sure to head your words." She laughed again and then looked over at her tiny daughter whose eyes fluttered open suddenly at her mother's laugh. It felt complete in the kitchen for the first time in many months, Hermione felt secure in knowing that no one could intrude on their momentary sanctuary.

"We can go tomorrow if you'd like, Henry." Hermione called out.

"Okay, Mum." Henry placed the plated of food in front of them and then washed his hands for his own meal of noodles and mozzarella.

"Thank you, Henry." Severus watched the young man nod in reply and then dig into his own food, disregarding the rules of social etiquette. He sighed, that would be something that he would help Hermione work on.

"Well boys, Sidney and I are going to have a bath and lie down." Hermione announced after they'd finished lunch.

"I will return at eight p.m." Severus replied, watching Hermione lift Sidney from the bassinet. She nodded and walked with Sidney away from the kitchen to the stairs.

"Thank you, again for coming today Severus." Hermione let her fingers fall slightly over his and then climbed the stairs. She was growing more tired by the minute and wanted nothing more than a warm bath and long nap.

**Author's note:** This is a transitional chapter, sorry it's short, but if I didn't end it here, it wouldn't fit with the rest of the story. I will have more up later.

AN 2-2-05 I re-did this chapter to fix errors and such. Thanks to those who have reviewed and sorry for the poor grammer and spelling.

**Makalanie Astral** : I know it's about time… 

Beck**y Benson**: Glad you came over to read it. I have actually been working on it for a year. I had it all written and then my computer ate it, so I am slowly re-writing the end. I won't give away the ending, but it will be a happy one.

**Crissy:** thanks a lot, I am glad you like it.

**Kate**: I strive to make Hermione seem more mature and Severus more free from the life he led while she was a student. It's hard though, because I do see him as a severe person.

**Azulkan2**: There will be more soon, I promise.

**Moldanubikum**: Thanks for sticking around!

**Anarane Anwamane**: Thanks again for your reviews

**KdarkMaiden**: I actually didn't think about it until you brought it up. That's interesting. I must have done it subconsciously.

**Annabel:** I posted more and sorry for the wait. It's the same story for everyone, I know school and such. I am doing my master's right now, so I don't have a great deal of time. But more will be posted.


	18. Your Place or Mine

Disclaimer: I do not own, or ever will, the Harry Potter Universe so wonderfully created by J K Rowling. Please do not sue; I highly doubt I could afford it. Thanks to all that reviewed, I am amazed at how many of you didn't give up on me. Thanks again!

Chapter 15: Your Place or Mine 

The next morning, Hermione, Henry and Sidney left Hogsmeade with Remus Lupin to go to Wallace's grave, which was in Caithness, eastern Scotland. Sidney's first forty-eight hours had been calm and quiet for the most part and although it was a little cold, Hermione knew that both she and Henry needed some closure. It would be a year since his death at the end of April and Hermione just couldn't wait that long. She needed something, a sign, and closure to help her know that Wallace wanted her to move on, to eventually love another man.

"Thank you for coming with us, Remus, we really appreciate it." Hermione said while she cradled Sidney in her arms and patted his hand. The portkey would activate in one more minute, so they stood relatively close and waited. As each of their hands grasped the plank of wood, Hermione smiled at the boys and waited for the familiar tug at her navel. She really shouldn't have been trying to travel or walk around so soon after the birth, but she had to go. He was calling to her.

"Henry, would you like to go first." He nodded and walked over to the large tree where just beneath his father and mother were buried. He wondered in his adolescent brain if Hermione, his Mum, felt jealous that his father was buried with his biological mother. He bent down and slowly cleared away the debris of nature and sighed heavily. No child his age should have to deal with the death of two parents before twelve. When he'd spent enough time in thought and reflection, he motioned Hermione over and they kneeled together before Wallace and Valerie's tree and wept. Hermione hadn't cried for Wallace in a long time and she truly wanted this to be the last time. In society, the death of a spouse was to be mourned rigidly for at least a year, but everything that had happened and with Sidney, Hermione felt for once that she was truly ready to bury Wallace, for good.

"You have a daughter now, Wallace. Her name is Anya Sidney, after you and my dear friend Severus Snape, our neighbour. I hope you don't mind. Oh, Wallace, we miss you so much and love you, this had been a hard year and but blessed. I can't imagine how you feel or if you feel anything or if you know what has happened to us in your absence. Henry and I have tried to cope with this in the best manner possible." Hermione stopped, rubbed Henry's shoulder and he understood that she wanted to speak with Wallace alone. He took Sidney from her arms and then walked slowly to Remus who was sitting patiently on a bench about one hundred metres away.

"I am beginning to care for Severus a great deal, Wallace, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to love him like I love you, loved you. I need to know that you approve, that you don't think me horrid for loving someone else. Wallace, how can I do this without you?" Hermione fell forward slightly and she cried hard against her hands, hoping she would gain the relief she had come to find. Her eyes finally cleared a bit and before her, a single branch of the tree began to sway. She felt no other wind around her and could hear no breeze nearby. She looked the branch over and as she sucked in air harder than she ever had before, on that March first, a blossom emerged from the edge of the branch. She plucked the blossom and smelled it's sweet nectar.

"Thank you, Wallace" Hermione whispered returning to the boys and Sidney. A huge relief had finally settled and she felt secure in returning to Hogsmeade and to Severus.

"Okay, we can go now, unless there's anything else, Henry." She took Sidney from his arms and kissed her rosy cheeks.

"No, Mum we can go." He rubbed her shoulder in exactly the same way she had earlier and they began to walk back to the portkey, which would activate again when they touched it. Thankfully the aurors were able to secure a portkey for travel, otherwise the expedition wouldn't have happened.

"Did you say what you wanted to, sweetie?" Hermione asked Henry as they came closer to the plank.

"Yes, Mum, I think I've said what I needed to today. I don't know if I'll ever except that he's gone, you know because he's the only father I have, but it's better now." Hermione stopped in her spot and realized that not only would she need to gain Wallace's support, which she believed she had now, but Henry's.

"Henry, come here for a second, there's something I need to talk with you about."

"Is it about Master Snape?" He asked as they sat down on the stone bench.

"Yes, dear, it is."

"You like him, don't you? And he likes you, I know it."

"Henry, it's more complicated than that when you're an adult. I do like him, but until I felt comfortable with your father's passing, I didn't want to admit my feelings for him, do you understand?" Henry laughed a bit and ran his hands through his sandy blonde hair.

"I understand, Mum. You don't want to get involved if you think Dad'll come back and haunt you. I understand completely. Michael and I have been trying to get you two to admit your feelings since before Christmas." Hermione pushed him lightly and laughed herself.

"Never thought I'd see you blush, Mum." Henry added, bringing his arms around her neck and laughing a bit more. "I think Master Snape is a good man, a little scary sometimes, but a good man. He loves his family and I think he loves you too and Sidney, the way he was looking at you two at breakfast. He watched you sleep last night and tucked Sidney in tighter after you fell asleep." Hermione blushed again thinking about Severus watching her sleep.

"Well, if you change your mind, let me know, okay?'

"What could be better? If you and Master Snape get married, Michael and I can live in the same house in summer and everything." Hermione laughed and stood slowly, thinking it was impossible to show Henry it was much more difficult that all that. She moved to pull Sidney's blanket tighter around her face when she heard a muffled scream from behind her where Remus Lupin was supposed to be standing. As she turned to see what had happened, she saw him. Platinum blonde hair and all, Lucius Malfoy flanked by Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Fancy meeting you here, Madame Stuart." Hermione fumbled for her wand awkwardly with Sidney in her arms. She didn't want to let go of her daughter, but didn't want her to be unprotected either.

"How may I help you, sir." Hermione held her wand out at arm's length and paced a circle with the older man, the evil man who obviously wanted what Peter Pettigrew hadn't gained.

"Only you, Madame." She could see him mentally preparing himself for the battle, for the curse that would inflict the most pain and least amount of resistance. She stepped further away from him, glancing around shortly for Henry and Remus. She finally saw them, Remus was unconscious near Wallace's tree and Henry was lying next to him, seemingly unconscious as well.

"I don't have what you need, Malfoy. They took everything away from me, my memories, the papers, everything." Hermione reasoned, but being an untrained occlumens, she couldn't tell if he was using it against her. She tried desperately to think of anything besides Wallace or the genetic research.

"Tisk, tisk, mudblood, I see that you aren't being truthful. But, we don't want to kill you, it's your brain we need after all and your magic. We don't, however, require the snivelling brat." In an instant, Sidney flew from Hermione's arms straight into Bellatrix's and before she could run after her, she heard Lucius cast the petrifying spell.

"Now, I'm going to tie this around your eyes so you can't see where we're going." Hermione couldn't protest, move, anything. She couldn't see what Bellatrix was doing to her daughter and instantly, felt completely helpless. Her life now blackened by the blindfold, she tried to hear things, to see if perhaps she could sense where they were going, but they hadn't moved yet. In seconds, she felt her senses disappear entirely as she lay stiffly on the cold, March ground.

"She's opening her eyes, you might want to stand back, Severus." Hermione heard Poppy say as she scanned the room wondering where she was now.

"Where…" Hermione gasped, her breath was icy against her lips and throat.

"Hogwarts, dear, you are at Hogwarts." Poppy answered towelling her head once more and trying to offer her some soup.

"Where Sid, Henry?" Hermione asked, trying to sit up in the bed, but falling miserably back against the pillows. Tears began to form and flow down her wind-blown cheeks and she tried desperately to see if Severus was still in the room. She needed his comfort.

"Henry is in the next cubicle and Sidney down the row. Lay down and relax, Hermione, they are fine." Hermione watched as Severus shot Poppy a glare she remembered so well from her youth. Poppy was obviously lying.

"Truth, please." Hermione finally managed to sit up and looked down towards the end of the hospital wing and saw a bassinet where she imagined Sidney to be. She threw her legs over the edge and tried to stand to walk to her. She concentrated all of her energy on making it down the long pathway to the bassinet and finally made it to the wooden trundle only to find it empty and then collapsed immediately from exhaustion.

"You shouldn't have said Sidney was in here, Poppy." Severus said snidely rushing to Hermione's limp form and bringing her back to her bed.

"I didn't realize she'd go down there, Severus." Poppy helped Severus make Hermione more comfortable on the bed and then left the pair alone.

"Did Bellatrix kill her?" Hermione asked, hoping against all hope that Bellatrix hadn't killed her daughter, her only daughter.

"No, Hermione, she did not kill her."

"Then where is she, Severus, I want to see her." Severus grabbed both of Hermione's hands and kissed her finger tips, he wanted to comfort her, to reassure her that everything would be fine, eventually.

"She is with Minerva in transfiguration class. We didn't want her cries to wake you up before you had proper rest. I will fetch her, wait right here." Severus leaned forward and kissed Hermione properly on the lips and began to leave the infirmary.

"Henry, what of him?" Hermione asked. Severus stopped suddenly and turned to her, his eyes quite dark.

"He's with Michael." The tone in his answer made Hermione think that perhaps everything wasn't as joyous as it seemed. Yes, they'd all survived whatever had happened; yet neither of her children were with her and now Severus had gone too.

"She's been asleep for around thirty minutes, Minerva said." Severus brought the bundle to Hermione and thrust her slowly into Hermione's arms. He still was no aficionado at holding babies and rather liked it when they were older and could hold their own heads up.

"And she isn't hurt?" Hermione sat up with ease and opened the blanket to peer at her tiny daughter. Everything seemed to be in order, but then Bellatrix was a tricky woman and a curse could be hidden quite easily.

"We've all checked, there wasn't enough time for Bella to inflict any real damage." Severus answered, coming to her side and joining her on the bed. At first, he sat rigid as if unable to relax against the soft cotton and then seeing the approval in her eyes, he leaned down beside her and let his eyes travel over the sleeping form of her daughter.

"And Henry, he was unconscious when they blindfolded me, what happened to him?"

"He passed out from shock, we assume. He isn't talking to anyone aside from Michael. I am afraid that your husband's tree was destroyed in the process of saving you from Lucius and Bella." Hermione eyes met his instantly, her face mournful and devastated.

"His tree? Gone?" Her eyes left Severus's briefly and met her daughters hazel green eyes, eyes that should be blue with pigment still and she wondered if that was the sign that Wallace had meant to give.

"We saved this, it was in your hand when they brought you here." Severus reached over to the nightstand and handed Hermione the single blossom from the tree. It was still white and pure, unwrinkled or bruised.

"I know this sounds silly and I am most sure that you will chastise me for doing so, but the whole reason I went to his grave today was to let go. To make sure that I would be able to freely give my heart to someone else. I stupidly asked Wallace to give me a sign that he would be okay with me having a relationship and maybe someday marrying someone else. Before I left, this single blossom sprouted from his tree and I knew he approved. Is that crazy?"

"Yes, it is crazy." Hermione turned to him and saw before her for the first time in ages a snarky smile from Severus. She'd missed that smile, the one she always received when he was being playful.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly, you're loony. But, it is a nice gesture nonetheless and I will gladly hold the fellow to it." Severus took the blossom from her hand again and then shifted to get out of the bed.

"You need to rest, Hermione. Sidney and I are going to make sure Henry is fairing well enough and then we'll bring you dinner." Severus took the small babe from her arms and turned to leave the infirmary.

"What about Remus. What a selfish fool I've been, how is Remus?"

"Fine, a little bruised and unhappy with me, but fine."

"Why is he unhappy with you?" Hermione asked, laying her head on the cotton pillow.

"I was alerted by Albus's clock that sensed you in danger, so Minerva, Hooch and I went to Caithness to make sure nothing was amiss. When we discovered Lucius and Bella trying to sabotage you, and also Remus unconscious, we had to defend the situation to our best knowledge. Unfortunately, Bella escaped, once more. Lucius has been returned to Azkaban."

"And Remus, why would he be upset?"

"Perhaps I was a bit forward with him about your protection or rather lack thereof." Severus turned abruptly and walked further to the large doors.

"Thank you for saving me, Severus." He heard Hermione whisper. His steps increased at a steady pace until he was clear of the infirmary and safe near the dungeons, his old home. He walked several corners until he reached the Slytherin common room where Michael and Henry were having a game of chess on Michael's four-poster.

"She is awake now, Henry, but resting. Would you like to go to her?"

"I fainted. What a great use I was." Henry yelled, tossing his pieces at the wall. Severus handed Sidney to Michael and stood directly in front of Henry.

"You were not able to save your mother because you are an untrained adolescent wizard who should not be concerned with matters in the Dark Arts. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange are not adolescent untrained wizards. Had you not been unconscious, it still wouldn't have been that much help to Hermione, in fact you more than likely would've been killed. Do not pity yourself, boy, for it does no one good. I expect you to go to your mother before curfew." Severus turned from the astonished boy and headed to the common room to find Michael.

"She hardly makes a sound. Not like Harrison at all, right Uncle Severus?"

"She is quite quiet." Severus retrieved the baby from Michael and walked with her quietly through the walls of Hogwarts waiting as long as he could to return to the infirmary. He paced the library, the Great Hall, the gardens, the quidditch pitch and lastly the Astronomy tower. For once in many years, he felt like he was finally home in a sense. Snape Manor was a home he had barely lived in as a child and one he hadn't the fondest memories of, yet he continued to live there to pay homage to a father who wanted him to be a ideal son.

"Aren't you ready to turn her over yet?" Hermione asked as Severus reappeared in the infirmary.

"Did you rest?"

"Of course, Doctor's order and all that. Let me have my baby please." Hermione held out her arms and waited for Severus to hand Sidney over, yet he hesitated a minute before doing so.

"We need to talk about something that I find may seem uncomfortable." Severus said, as Sidney stirred in Hermione's arms.

"Yes, what is it?"

"The Order had discussed the necessary precautions for your safety. It seems unwise to send you back to your home. Lucius may not be able to retain you, but Bella is relentless and until she is captured, your safety is imperative. Albus has offered you to stay here and live in the extra dorms." Severus paced the floor as he spoke. He felt more like her superior again than the person he hoped he'd become in her mind.

"Why would this make me uncomfortable. I could live here again as long as it wasn't for a great deal of time."

"I put in my own suggestion, merely as a safe place for you to reside. I realize that our new, affection, changes my original plan of simply having you live in Snape Manor without it seeming awkward, yet it would be the next safest place to Hogwarts with more comforts of home." Hermione sniggered a bit as the faintest of blushes crept over his cheeks.

"Are you asking me to move in with you, Severus?" She asked, toying with him. He stopped, starred her down to the bed and turned from the room.

"I was only joking, Severus. I know exactly what you are asking. You want to know if I would mind living at Snape Manor, not as your, well whatever, but as a guest, right?" Hermione watched him stop and turn again. She wondered if he was getting tired at all with all the pacing and walking he had been doing.

"Yes, that is exactly what I meant."

"If the Order thinks it wise, then who am I to disagree?" Hermione smiled shyly back at Severus and then down at Sidney who looked ready to have her dinner too.

"But that doesn't mean that my affections are going to stop. I've finally admitted them and feel free to pursue them and…" She stopped, sighed and waited for a sarcastic comment or stalk off in return.

"No doubt, Madame Stuart."

"Sidney is quite hungry Master Snape and I do think Poppy would find it entirely inappropriate if you were to be in here while she was fed." Hermione saw the blush rise again to his cheeks and then he turned finally to leave the infirmary for good that night, or at least until he was sure that she was asleep and that there was no possible way he would be put in an uncomfortable situation again.

**Author's note:** Sadly, Bellatrix has not disappeared and the threat on Hermione has not either. Moving into Snape Manor and some explanations (Eleanor) in the next chapter.

AN 2-2-05 I re-did this chapter to fix errors and such. Thanks to those who have reviewed and sorry for the poor grammer and spelling.

**Makalanie Astral** : I know it's about time… 

Beck**y Benson**: Glad you came over to read it. I have actually been working on it for a year. I had it all written and then my computer ate it, so I am slowly re-writing the end. I won't give away the ending, but it will be a happy one.

**Crissy:** thanks a lot, I am glad you like it.

**Kate**: I strive to make Hermione seem more mature and Severus more free from the life he led while she was a student. It's hard though, because I do see him as a severe person.

**Azulkan2**: There will be more soon, I promise.

**Moldanubikum**: Thanks for sticking around!

**Anarane Anwamane**: Thanks again for your reviews

**KdarkMaiden**: I actually didn't think about it until you brought it up. That's interesting. I must have done it subconsciously.

**Annabel:** I posted more and sorry for the wait. It's the same story for everyone, I know school and such. I am doing my master's right now, so I don't have a great deal of time. But more will be posted.


	19. Getting To Know You, All of You

Disclaimer: I do not own, or ever will, the Harry Potter Universe so wonderfully created by J K Rowling. Please do not sue; I highly doubt I could afford it. Thanks to all that reviewed, I am amazed at how many of you didn't give up on me. Thanks again!

**Chapter 16: Getting To Know You, All of You**

The next weeks were spent moving the majority of Hermione and Sidney's belongings to Snape Manor and settling in. Their routine had finally formalized and for once in months, Hermione felt perfectly safe. Not only were her children unaffected physically by the run in with the former Death Eaters at Wallace's grave, she felt secure in being at Snape Manor. The most difficult part of the entire ordeal was adjusting to the constant moodiness of Severus Snape. It was by no coincidence of nature that his initials had ass in them, but then again, she knew that it must be just as difficult for him to have a young child in the manor again. She hadn't ventured again to Wallace's grave, but hoped she could eventually go back and rededicate a tree in his honour, which was the wizarding custom. She'd received a letter from Willet, Wallace's mother, and was saddened to discover that her illness was progressing further as well. It seemed that no one in Hermione's life lived long enough.

When Sidney was one month old, Hermione invited (with Severus' permission, however forced) some friends and family to come and see her, as many hadn't since her birth. It was refreshing to see some of the faces again, though she understood that many felt quite uncomfortable at Snape Manor. Hermione and Sallie watched the others socialize, but eventually snuck off for a private chat.

"I can't believe it's already been a month." Sallie said, pouring herself another glass of pumpkin juice. She swallowed it quickly and sat next to Hermione near the window.

"She changes everyday. Each morning I look at her and see a subtle change, something slightly different than the previous day. Was it like that with Harrison?" Sallie laughed a bit and thought to Harrison's first months and how stressful they had been trying to raise him without Draco.

"He looked like Draco the moment he was born, but only gained a little of my traits. I wasn't able to care for him for the first week because I had such trouble giving birth, but when I saw him each day, he seemed different."

"Did Severus care for him?" Hermione asked, bringing her goblet to her lips and sipping the drink that reminded her so much of her youth, so much of Hogwarts.

"Yes, for the most part, he was a blessing to have around, even if a bit over-protective at times." Hermione took her chance to giggle and helped Sallie bring the remaining goblets to the sink before returning resolutely to her chair.

"He is a bit over-protective of Sidney too. Sometimes, if he thinks I'm not awake or maybe not looking, he checks in on her. I've caught him more lately." They looked out into the den where people were socializing and catching up on month's past, forgetting any stresses of the day and celebrating the continued life of Sidney. Hermione finally searched out Severus's eyes and locked with him briefly before moving her eyes to see Harry holding Sidney. She wondered if Harry would keep his word and search out the answer to his own marriage and not try to pressure Hermione into anything other than friendship. Harry walked slowly towards them and handed off the bundle.

"She looks more like you than before."

"Sometimes, but those eyes are certainly not mine." Hermione kissed Sidney's soft forehead and patted Harry's arm. Even though she had tried to forget his affections in her mind, it was a daunting task she wasn't sure would be completed soon enough. He walked to Susan without another word and embraced her, as a dutiful husband should. Veronica's tiny hand grasped Harry's.

"It's a month of marriage for you as well, Sallie, how is everything with Ron?" Hermione brought Sidney to her shoulder and rubbed her back concentrically.

"He's perfect." Sallie said sighing and finding Ron across the room.

"You aren't serious, right? Ron Weasley perfect, you must be delusional." Hermione thought of all the annoying habits Ron had and wondered if they just hadn't gotten out of the newlywed stage for them to appear.

"Well, he does smell like a man most of the time and he never picks up his socks. I find socks everywhere, yet never in the laundry. And his eating habits don't get me started on his poor behaviour and teaching Harrison to carry on conversations with food in his mouth. But, I love him and I guess that's just part of living with him." Sallie and Hermione decided to return to the gathering as their absence was finally being noticed.

"How long do you think you'll have to be here?" Hermione heard Susan ask her as she walked near them.

"Oh, I don't know, until I can safely leave I assume." Hermione returned politely, however she didn't particularly care for the tone in which Susan had said here.

"That's so indefinite, how can you stand the waiting?" Susan asked, rubbing her stomach lightly where baby James was growing. Hermione hadn't really ever talked much with Susan, aside from her loyalty to others, Hermione saw no other redeeming qualities about her.

"I don't mind. Severus has been quite kind." Hermione noticed immediately the scrunching of Susan Potters face as she said Severus. She wondered what the others in the room would say if they knew that she and Severus were beginning a sort of relationship, well it was more than friendship and less than marriage.

"He lets you call him that? I'm sorry, but I could never think of him as anything other than the Potions Master of our school days." Susan's glass was empty and before Hermione could comment, Harry grabbed the glass and left the two ladies alone. Immediately, words entered her brain that could rectify the image Susan harboured in her brain.

"He doesn't **let** me do anything, I chose to call him Severus. And I am sorry that your views cannot stretch past seventh year, but do sincerely hope that they someday will. Have a nice day, Susan." Hermione left Susan sitting, open-mouthed towards the place where Hermione had stood.

"You won't believe what she just said to me, Harry…" Hermione heard Susan whisper before coming to stand next to Ginny. She wondered briefly if perhaps her advice to stick with Susan had been a good one.

"I think I am going to put Sidney down in the bassinet, excuse me." It was quite clear to Hermione that it was a terrible idea to invite the group of people together. Harry and Susan weren't the same as Ron and Sallie in any aspect. Ron and Sallie seemed to have finally found happiness, yet were the type of couple who still could be separated in a crowd, entertaining separate friends. Susan seemed to claim all of Harry's attention, imagine being jealous of a month-old baby.

"You are beautiful, Sidney." Hermione kissed her daughter's eyelids and pulled the covers lightly around her before charming the bassinet to rock slowly. Everyday, Sidney seemed to bring more life back to Hermione. She hadn't realized it before, but since Wallace's death she'd been quite depressed.

"Potter and his brood have left." She heard from behind her. Hermione slowly moved a curl from Sidney's forehead and brought her eyes to focus on Severus's again.

"She was quite rude earlier." Hermione admonished, leaning over and kissing Sidney one last time. She felt Severus step closer to them and then the soft, delicate pulse of his fingers on her shoulder.

"This was your idea." He joked, rubbing her shoulder slightly. She laughed slowly and thought of the plethora of people in Severus's den. She had been a little delusional herself to invite such an odd mixture of people.

"I know, please keep reminding me." Hermione moved her head to kiss his fingers lightly and then face him completely. She rushed forward and startled him with the power of her embrace.

"What is really bothering you, Hermione?" He received no answer, only whimpers from the woman in his arms. They hadn't been in such proximity for at least a week and the curve of her body had changed dramatically, she was growing thinner by the day.

"I don't know why I am crying." She finally replied, wiping her eyes with her sleeves and stepping away from him. If she didn't already feel immature, she most certainly did as she thought about how silly she was acting.

"Let's get back downstairs and we'll talk later." He handed her a handkerchief and led her to the door, knowing that he was resigning himself to a very long night. As they reached the door, he stopped her slightly and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, Severus." Hermione smiled and headed down the stairs leaving Severus in the doorway of the nursery where Harrison and many children before them had slept. He turned back to the room and sighed softly himself, remembering things he honestly wished he could forget.

That night, Ron and Sallie stayed for dinner, yet hardly a word was spoken between the crowds. Hermione and Sallie had spoken briefly about the first flowers of spring and her approaching birthday. Ron and Severus rarely spoke normally, so their silence was something customary. Atticus and Harrison ate quickly and excused themselves just as quickly to go practice flying in the north paddock. Everything seemed abnormally quiet, as if something important was going to occur.

"Have they given you any information? I mean, when they said you would come here for protection, did they say they were going to actively pursue the former associates?" Sallie asked as Hermione poured them some tea. Ron and Severus were trying to play a game of wizard chess but it seemed that they wanted to listen to Sallie and Hermione's conversation more.

"They certainly didn't offer a timeline. As much as I like the manor, I miss my home. The elves have helped in taking care of Sidney and Severus has been wonderful, it's just hard being away from some of my personal things." Her tea burnt the tip of her tongue effortlessly before scalding her throat.

"My, I should've blown on this first." Hermione gagged a bit and immediately gobbled a hazelnut truffle.

"So, how are things otherwise, I mean we've not had much chance to talk about other things not involving moving lately." Sallie glanced over to Ron who looked quite serious as his bishop crossed the playing board and then her Uncle, who seemed very pleased in Ron's movement.

"Well, ummm, it's been interesting trying to see where things are going considering that most people don't begin relationships by moving in together." Both women sniggered a bit causing the men to look at them questioningly, but neither women truly cared nor noticed.

"Is he being nice? Ron and I don't get here often enough anymore and I can't tell whether you are happy here or just happy to be alive."

"It's both." Hermione excused herself and went to the restroom. Again, not realizing she'd taken the wrong hallway, she found herself in a familiar hallway in front of a somewhat familiar painting.

"Master Severus and Madame Eleanor." She read aloud once more. This time, however, she scrutinized the woman at the side of the man she was beginning to have great affection for. Her hair was a golden-brown, lighter around the face but darker in the back. Her eyes were a peculiar colour both green and brown, not quite hazel almost as though her maker had forgotten to blend the colours. She was slender, but there was a slight roundness in the middle and her arms were quite long in the comparison of the rest of her. After Hermione had stood there for quite some time, she finally stalked away and made a reminder to ask Severus about the woman who had obviously been his lover at one time.

"See you in the morning." Sallie whispered before helping Ron get situated on his wheelchair and fasten Harrison's robes.

"Bye." Hermione grasped Severus's arm before he could dash away to inform him she was going to check on Sidney. The nursery was something Hermione hadn't expected when she first came to Snape Manor. She hated to admit it, but she rather thought that the Snape family wouldn't have nurseries in their home.

Sidney was resting peacefully when Hermione came into the nursery. She, without delay, came to the bassinet and lifted the infant from her cozy cocoon. It was something that she liked tremendously, the breath on her neck, the little coos and snores. Having a child had changed her a great deal in ways she hadn't expected at all. Sidney was the embodiment of all the hopes and fears she'd had in her life. With a child, she didn't have as much time to do things she normally had. She read a bit and wrote letters, but the time of her day was mostly spent loving the daughter she'd had now for a month.

Severus watched them from the doorway, seeing only fleeting seconds all of the other women who had once had babies in the nursery. Instantly, he saw Sarah as her seventeen year old self, pacing the room with Harrison cradled in her tiny arms. After she'd had Harrison, her entire form had changed as well.

"You don't have to stand in the doorway, Severus." Hermione motioned him in and wondered if he was embarrassed that she knew that he watched her.

"I didn't want to disturb your moment." Severus said slyly coming into the room and bringing his arm slightly around her shoulder. He couldn't tell if she was the type of person that liked her personal space or the type that always had to have a sort of physical closeness to someone.

"She is sleeping a lot lately." Severus added looking into the face of her daughter. Sidney had brought an air of something new and different to Snape Manor. Harrison was four now and though he was still quite young, he wasn't a baby.

"I am thankful. Those first couple of weeks were trying." Hermione smiled up at him, her eyes tearing slightly again. She couldn't control her emotions sometimes.

"Sarah and Ronald will be coming in the morning to accompany us to your home to retrieve a few more things." He stated, his fingers rubbing her heavy shoulder.

"That's very kind of you all, but I really can't bring anything else here before I overload your rooms." She laughed uneasily and wondered if he understood what she really meant. "The things that are still in my house are too sentimental and personal to have around everyday again, I rather like the new things I've come to know." She pulled away from him and faced him.

"Would you hold Sidney for a minute while I go change?" She asked, he held out his arms and cradled the tiny baby in his arms. He wondered what his former students would think of him now, embracing the embodiment of someone else's love. He walked around the room a little and waited for Hermione to return.

"Did she stir?" He heard from behind him as Hermione walked into the nursery again.

"No, she hasn't made a sound." Hermione came to his side again and took Sidney from him before placing her back into the bassinet and leading him out of the nursery.

"Would you like a night cap?" She asked as they came into the breakfast room. Atticus was reading a book and sipping some tea.

"I was going to bed now, Uncle. Goodnight, Hermione." Atticus jumped up quickly and exited the room with barely enough time to bow at Hermione before leaving.

"I don't think he likes me, Severus." Hermione said, her face falling as she spoke.

"I rather think the reality is that he likes you too much." Severus replied, walking over to the bar and beginning to pour them both some wine. Hermione took her somewhat normal seat next to the window and looked down across the field to see her former home.

"There's something I've wanted to ask you since Christmas, but if fear it's quite personal." Hermione said as Severus swirled the drinks a bit and walked over to her side.

"Very well." He offered, she supposed that was his way of permitting her question. She rather liked the closeness they'd come to know since her time at the manor and conflicted within herself the proper way in which to ask him about Madame Eleanor.

"I got lost coming back from the loo before we opened presents on Christmas and came across a painting down a lone corridor. What I mean to ask is who is Madame Eleanor?" Upon saying the phrase, the goblet in Severus' hand slipped through his fingers, hitting the floor with precise timing and shattering at once.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have asked." Hermione set her goblet down and rushed to his feet and picked up the glass mess.

"Please forget I even mentioned anything!" Hermione exclaimed taking the pieces of shattered glass and throwing them in the dustbin. He curiosity had always gotten the best of her spirit and now she'd demanded more of Severus than he could give.

"Stop! Stop your infernal messing about and come sit with me while I gather my thoughts." Hermione came to sit next to him on the lounge, shaking briefly from the tone of his voice. She hadn't heard it quite so rough in many years. His face remained stoic and tense since she'd mentioned the name, but his shoulders had finally relaxed as he reached for her hands.

"No one is supposed to see that painting, in fact it was going to be replaced this weekend with the one you gave me for Christmas." His voice faltered only once when going over the word painting, but she hardly noticed it as her eyes were more intent on seeking his than her ears were to listen.

"The restroom you used was my own private one and that painting is in the hallway leading to my private quarters. It was painted twenty two years ago." She released a breath she had been holding since sitting next to him and hoped he was planning on answering her.

"Were you married?" Hermione asked, rubbing their combined hands together before meeting his trouble eyes.

"Yes, we were married. We had been intended for each other since birth. Her family and my own were quite inter-related and my father intended for us to be wed after I completed my master apprentice at Hogwarts. I was twenty-six then." He paused and captured his breath, stopping only to decide whether Hermione really needed the complete story. He knew her curiosity would not wane.

"Did you love her?" Hermione asked, pleading in her voice.

"Yes, at first, but she soon became more of an obsession than a companion. My three-year stint as a follower of the Dark Lord dampened any real chance for our continued affection and when it came to Hogwarts, it was clear that even though we were bound together, she wouldn't be pleased to marry me." Hermione's eyes were so helplessly drawn to the sadness of his speech and the gauntness of his face. She'd never heard him so honest and forthcoming on something entirely personal.

"Yet you stayed together I am assuming five more years to have the painting done."

"We remained bound by law until three months after the painting was completed." He conveniently left out the part that Eleanor had also died three months later.

"Oh, well I don't know to say exactly. I'm sorry seems useless as I didn't know you then or her ever." Hermione stopped suddenly as Severus pulled his hands from hers.

"You surprise me." He muttered under his breath.

"Why is that?" She questioned, affronted and somewhat offended.

"You don't ask why our being bound ended. Don't you want to know?"

"Of course, but I feel that I've asked enough of you already today."

"How very polite of you to stop now." He barked.

"I gave you the option of saying nothing, why are you blaming me now? What have I done?" His sneer frightened her and made her breaths top again. It was a look she'd seen quite often as a student at Hogwarts. The look was one she'd seen when someone had wronged him or broken a rule.

"Do you want to know what happened to poor, pitiful Eleanor? Deceiving and daring Eleanor who continued an open, illustrious affair with my brother my entire tenure as apprentice? Who, after all, would want to marry a stodgy former Death Eater when you could have the affections of an auror?" The disdain and melancholy in his voice jolted Hermione to memories of her own failed relationships.

"Wasn't he married to Solaris, Sallie's mother then?" Apparently her observation did little to ease the conflict in the air. His shaky hands rested on his knees, his fingers tapped wildly against them.

"No he was not yet married to Solaris. They were married five years later."

"But Sallie was born that year, wasn't she? She's twenty-one, twenty-two this month." Hermione noticed, trying to calculate the time in her mind.

"Our terrible family secret." Severus mumbled, not meeting her eye and slowly grasping her hands once more.

"What I am going to reveal to you Sarah does not know, nor can she. I must be able to trust you with this secret, Hermione."

"Of course." She replied, leaning forward and listening intently to his words.

"I caught them upon returning here that fall, but knew it was of no consequence, Eleanor and I were to marry in the winter. She seemed quite reluctant to the plans father was making and I merely believed it was due to her tête-à-tête with Satinus. We had the painting commissioned the day of our official binding and upon our change in the family robes, noticed that Eleanor was changing dramatically in both form and walk. I noticed she seemed pleased and happy about something I was not privy to. She came to me two months later in great distress and told me she was with child. By law, I had every right to reverse our bond and cast her out into the world, alone. She pleaded with me to allow her to stay at Snape Manor, at the time I hadn't realized exactly how far along she was." He stopped briefly deciding whether it was pertinent or not to reveal the next bit. A sigh later, he met Hermione's eyes and decided she deserved to know it all.

"We had been married, or bound for two months already and my love for her, regardless of the horrible person she was made it easy for me to let her stay. I would like to say we were amicable and eventually fell into a loving relationship, but the truth is we hardly spoke and even when we did it was short, to the point." Hermione heard a sort of finality in his tone as he stood to leave her. Hundreds of questions coddled her slightly fuddled brain.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to confide in me such a personal thing." Hermione went to the sink and poured out her own drink before washing her hands. Looking down, she realized that he hand had been cut by the glass in several different places.

"I've cut my hand." She said, holding it up for him to see. Immediately, he looked to his own hands and saw her blood smeared in blotches all over his fingers. Instantly, a vivid, dark memory grappled his brain and he fell onto the lounge once more and buried his head in his hands.

"What's bothering you, Severus?"

"I am a bad man, Hermione, it would serve you well to leave now. I will arrange for better accommodations."

"You are not a bad man, Severus, why do you say things like that?"

"You have no idea what I am capable of, Hermione." Severus came to the sink, washed his hands and then proceeded to the opposite side of the room where he poured a fresh glass of wine. 'It's better for her to know now', he thought to himself.

"I'm not leaving." She replied defiantly to his morose comments. She couldn't understand where the darkness had suddenly come from and why he was suddenly quite defensive.

"Once I explain everything to you, you'll want to leave so to save myself the modicum of respect that you still have for me, it would be better for you to leave." He swallowed the last of his wine in one gulp and poured another, watching her.

"Just tell me, Severus, it won't change anything."

"You honestly have no idea what I am capable of, Hermione, and what I did to the one person I was supposed to love." Severus turned away from her and memories of them in the exact same room plagued him. Eleanor had never loved him and he'd made her pay everyday for it, until the day when she'd passed on and left him with a child that wasn't his.

**Author's Note**: Apparently, I didn't write it well enough, but when Severus (in my story) refers to what he is capable of or the fact that he perceives himself to be a bad man, he does not mean simply his past as a death eater. He knows she knows that history, he is referring to his relationship with Eleanor. Sorry if that wasn't apparent.


	20. Closer

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Potter Universe: please don't sue me! Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate the feedback. Sorry this has taken so long, it has been midterms at school and I have a terrible cold. Thanks for sticking with me!**

**Chapter 17: Closer **

_"I'm pregnant Severus." Eleanor lathered his back a bit more and cringed as she heard his sigh._

_"I see." He mustered, wanting nothing more than to hope beyond hope that somehow the child was actually his and not Satinus'. He turned slowly to face her and was shocked to see that she was crying. Eleanor had never been an overly emotional woman and often people termed her quite cold and unfeeling. That is why so many believed their marriage to be so compatible: they were both cold and unfeeling. Yet for all the people in the world, there was only one person Severus cared for and that was Eleanor, despite all of her faults._

_"I don't want you to hate me Severus, I have rather grown to care for you more than before." She sympathized, wiping her cheeks and eyes before taking his hands._

_"I suspected as much after the painting, the way your dress fit and all." He stood quickly and grabbed the first available towel. "I will need much time to consider this, Eleanor, and I sincerely hope that you will consider your place in my family and my home before returning to my brother once more." His words were icy and vague, something she wasn't used to from him. Her inner conflict between the man she had loved most of her life and the man she was now married to seemed in constant rivalry. She couldn't ever love Severus the way she loved Satinus, but she could never have Satinus. She magiced the drain to empty and followed Severus to their bedroom, but when she arrived, she saw all of his things had been moved or packed or something. Thereupon the table was a parchment she recognized to be in his handwriting stating simply, 'I've gone to Hogwarts, Return Indefinite, Yours, S'. She threw the parchment immediately into the flames and watched as he hope slowly burned._

Hermione watched him curiously as he spoke. The history she knew of him wasn't all sunshine and lilies, but she couldn't imagine him having done something so horrible that he wouldn't want to tell her. Upon reflection she wondered how she hadn't seen Eleanor in Sallie's face before; now it seemed so obvious. And her mind wandered even further to Sallie and Ron's wedding. She recalled mentioning how beautiful Sallie looked and Sever replied something to the effect of she looked quite like her mother in a tone that invited no further questions.

"I know you feel as though what you have to tell me is in some way detrimental to your character, but if you don't tell me, I'll be left to create something with my own imagination." He actually seemed a little more relaxed once she'd made her comment and stopped pacing at the door.

"Eleanor was never a modest woman, she liked to parade around the manor in nothing short of her underthings and for years I tried to ignore her advances because I believed we were too young to be so involved. When I was twenty-one, redeemed on the side of the light and teaching at Hogwarts, I knew she was seeing Satinus and I decided in jealousy to give in to the temptation and I did, quite often in fact. She would come to me at night when our parents were sleeping. She came to Hogwarts. I went to Dogwood, her family home. Eventually, though, it seemed that her affection for Satinus was growing and in jealousy, I began to visit her in his form. She would tell me she loved me, her appetite was insatiable." He stopped, gauging how Hermione was reacting to his admission thus far. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed, but her hands were still caressing his in a steady, linear fashion.

"After we were bound, I only visited her once in his form and then swore I would never again. I felt like I was betraying myself to release the passion I had for her in his form. Her pregnant body was glorious. I admit freely that I tried desperately to pretend the child was mine and often asked her the plans and such for the child's arrival. She hated my interference and I honestly believe she began to hate the child as well. In retrospect, I think she wanted me to cast her out of my home, our home."

"How could anyone ever blame or hate a child?" Hermione whispered, saddened deeply at the thought of someone mistreating a child. She locked eyes with Severus and sighed, she had been expecting much worse from him.

"Eleanor was a very selfish person." His tone spoke volumes of how he felt about Eleanor, yet the pain of their relationship was obvious on his face.

"What happened when Sallie was born?" Immediately, the look in his eyes told her that the worst was yet to come.

"Eleanor went into labour on the twenty-second and wouldn't go to the hospital. She wanted to have the child at home and I obliged her, yet ignored her as much as possible. A healer arrived to aid in the delivery and implied that there were complications that Eleanor needed to leave for the hospital immediately. Eleanor was adamant that she wanted to have the child at home, so I told the healer to bring staff here. Some hours later, Eleanor went into shock and I was given a choice. I had indulged her our entire marriage, I tried everything to make her see that I could be just as devoted as my brother, but she consistently denied me everything. I was young and irresponsible, I wanted revenge. My choice was to try to save them both or save the baby. As much as I didn't know about children, I still wanted the child regardless. The pain Eleanor had caused me throughout my life caused me to act rashly. I told the healer to save the baby in case it was a boy, an heir. They didn't question me or take action against my decision. They knew it had been under her orders to have the baby at home, so they never assumed anything ill motives on my part. Eleanor became coherent long enough to look over the baby and basically died of blood loss and shock thirty minutes later. The mediwitch handed me the baby before closing off the room to prepare Eleanor's body. I remembered Eleanor saying she wanted to name the baby Sarah after her mother if it was a girl, so I obliged as a last effort to redeem myself. I named her Sarah Catherine, which was Eleanor's middle name and contacted Satinus immediately." He stood abruptly and left her alone on the lounge. He couldn't take the easy kindness she was offering him. He couldn't let her be so completely kind to him. Did she not understand that he had basically killed his wife to save a child that wasn't his?

"But she didn't want to live. You said she had regretted everything." She replied, almost reading his mind.

"Please don't try to justify my actions. I did not want her to live and short of casting an unforgivable, I killed her. I had been so obsessed with her for so long and her constant betrayal finally caught up with me." He faced her again, but saw only tears and sadness on Hermione's face. He had never told anyone the truth about the ordeal before. Even when Satinus threatened him with death, he told the same sugar-coated version he told everyone.

"So you gave Sallie to Satinus?"

"No, when he came here to say goodbye to Eleanor, we discussed the issue. Until he married Solaris, he wouldn't have adequate time or means to care for an infant, so I became her guardian. His name was placed on her birth certificate, but she remained with me. When they finally married, Solaris decided she didn't like the name Sarah and began calling her Sallie. Officially, her mother is Solaris Snape, the name was added when they married, and she will never know that I raised her for three years as my daughter." Hermione couldn't bare to look into his eyes now; something within her suddenly let insecure and as saddened as she was to admit it, she was terribly afraid of Severus for an instant. She sipped some water and closed her eyes. They hadn't been close for long, but he was certainly the type of man she could eventually marry or at least live with agreeably; however, instant thought of repeated images flashed before her. Severus with her at the hospital, concerned and comforting hold Sidney, sneering at her when they left the next morning. And then images of him above her, telling her he didn't love her or their child. 'Where did that come from', she instantly thought.

"But didn't Sallie want you, I mean as a child we want our parents, our familiars." Hermione's speech stuttered a bit as she asked her questions. Too many separate thoughts and questions presented themselves at one.

"I modified her memory. She has no recollection of our time together at all. And Solaris adored her. They were worried they wouldn't have children of their own, so they doted on her quite a lot." Hermione felt a sigh of relief at his words and knowing that the lady that had pretended to be Sallie's mother was kind was refreshing. Without thinking, she came to his side and embraced him tightly. 'Everyone makes mistakes', she kept repeating to herself. Her hands travelled all about his frame, trying desperately to communicate her understanding and elation at knowing how much he trusted her with such a secret. Looking into his eyes, she leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on his stunned lips.

"Thank you for trusting me, Severus." She said, still unsure about his capabilities.

"I wish I hadn't been so selfish and vengeful in my youth, but I wanted to tell you to show you the difference in my character now. I would treat you so cruelly, Hermione and nothing could ever make me disrespect you in such a way." She kissed him again and found that although he had done horrible things in his past, he had spent his adult like making up for it. People could only endure so much pressure and pain before they fell apart.

"I am quite tired, do you mind if we finish this discussion in the morning?" Hermione asked, stifling a yawn.

"Of course, would you allow me to walk with you?" She nodded and they left the breakfast room to venture down the hallway, he captured her arm with his and hoped she was sincere in trying to understand his sordid past.

"Oh, Sidney's crying!" Hermione broke free of his arm and came to Sidney's bassinet where the tiny babe was wailing. Hermione lifted her slowly, cautiously and laid her against her shoulder. She wouldn't stop. Hermione changed her nappy and then began to rock her again, but her cries only seemed to intensify.

"If I may?" Severus reached out for Sidney and cradled her softly to his own chest, her cries continued until he began to run his index finger over her lips and then slowly up her tiny spine. Sidney's eyes flashed open and caught his as her cries became whimpers and then slowly, she was just staring at him.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked, watching him being so out of character, so loving and soft.

"Just something I learned with Sarah." He paused and met her eyes. " She seems calmer now, I will bid you goodnight." He handed Sidney to Hermione and leaned down to kiss her cheek. At times, Severus was an enigma, something Hermione would have difficulty solving, but would eventually figure out. She rather liked the game.

That night, however, vivid nightmares plagued her sleep. Dreams of being locked up in the dungeons, being pregnant and killing her own child, swirled around her brain in a mist of fury. Horrid, garish nightmares that left her breathless upon waking. Sidney slept through the night and when her cries finally stirred her at six-thirty, she was quite relieved. She fed, changed and bathed Sidney before taking her in the portable bassinet down to the breakfast room to join Atticus and Severus for breakfast.

"Good morning Atticus, how was your rest?" Hermione asked as she placed the bassinet on the desk.

"Glad it's Saturday, not tutoring!" He smiled and stuffed a spoonful of mash and kippers in his mouth. She laughed heartily, thinking of Ron at breakfast times when they were younger.

"Good morning." Hermione said ash Severus same in the breakfast room from his study. He looked exhausted. It seemed that perhaps nightmares had plagued him too.

"How was your rest?" Hermione asked Severus as he sat beside her softly.

"Well enough." His tone made her understand that perhaps he didn't want to discuss such things with Atticus at the table. She smiled at him regardless of his tine and looked over at Sidney who seemed to be fascinated with the chandelier above the desk.

"Do you like the chandelier, poppet? Hmmm?" Hermione watched as Sidney's tiny mouth stretched upwards in her first real smile. Hermione, laughing, came to her side and stroked her reddened cheeks before returning to her grapefruit and tea.

"I would like to go to the bookstore today." Hermione said between sips of her tea. She eyed Severus to see how accommodating he felt and beamed when he nodded his head gently.

"I'm sure Sarah and Ronald would be pleased to see you, considering they aren't here almost every evening." She met his gaze, smirking at his sarcasm and then standing. No more than an hour later, Sidney, Hermione, Atticus and Severus left for the walk from Sedna Station to Gentry and Hermione's beloved bookstore. With Severus, Hermione felt quite safe from any possible attack, yet still wondered if he felt at all uncomfortable about the information he'd shared the previous evening.

"Hermione! It's so good to see you out and about." Sallie giggled, as if she hadn't seen her the day before.

"I wanted to see how everything was going. Has the April order form been sent?" Hermione walked with Sidney to the register and scanned the lists. Everything seemed to be in order for the time being and she honestly missed the every day job of running her store.

"Sidney smiled this morning." Hermione said laying Sidney in the mobile bassinet she'd left at the store.

"Was it glorious?" Sallie asked, both women gushing looking down at the amber-haired baby.

"I wanted to cry." Hermione met Sallie's face and for the first time she saw a hint of both the Snape line and Eleanor in it. She had a stern brow like Severus, but Hermione assumed that Satinus must have had similar features.

"I've never felt something like that before." Hermione added, smoothing Sidney's soft skin, her fingers, running circles over her.

"Let's see if Uncle and Ron have killed each other." When they returned, Severus and Ron were arguing over the layout of the new Arsenius Jigger potions text but stopped as the ladies approached.

"Are you ready to leave?" Hermione asked seeing the obvious tension between the men.

"With haste." Was all she heard as he ushered her to the door.

"May I stay with Sallie for a bit longer, it is her birthday." Atticus asked Severus as they reached the door.

"Have you asked your sister? Don't assume she wants you around all day." Severus asked, pointing to Sallie.

"He can stay until dinner, we're still having it at Snape Manor, right?" Sallie came to her Uncle's side and patted his arm. She could tell something was bothering him as the paused at the door.

"Very well, until dinner. Seven sharp." Sallie rushed forward and kissed his cheek tenderly, before kissing Hermione's as well. All suddenly, Hermione wondered if Severus had become so closed off to emotion because he had had to give up this girl before them, this daughter that wasn't and couldn't ever be his. The walk home was quiet, but the feel of his fingers on her elbow surprised her. He had never physically harmed her on purpose and she knew that all of his anxiety in telling her about his past was vanishing slowly with her own gentle fingertips on his forearm.

"Thank you for accompanying me, Severus, I really needed to go somewhere."

"Perhaps a visit there regularly would help?" She reached up to his face and traced his cleanly shaven chin before kissing him quickly.

"Yes, that would help. The walk was nice and I believe Sidney really enjoyed it as well/" He laughed looking down at the bundle against her chest.

"She had remained asleep the entire time, dear." Hermione laughed with him while trying her best to ignore his term of endearment. He wasn't one to show his affection so openly, but she also didn't want to embarrass him with her happiness.

Hermione placed Sidney in her crib and watched her sleep, wondering what dreams a baby so young could have. She straightened the blankets, smoothed her wild hair, and waited for any sign of life. Moments passed and Hermione forgot just how long she'd been standing there, looking down at her child.

"You need to rest." She heard from behind her.

"I have a fear that if I sleep, I'll wake up and this won't be real." His arms wrapped her as his chin came to rest on her shoulder.

"You aren't dreaming, all parts of this world are real, even the dark ones." He slowly turned her around to face him, his arms still tight around her waist.

"I worry that Sidney and I are imposing on your hospitality, Severus. I don't want you to feel obligated to spend time with me." Her voice quivered a bit as she spoke, sadness and despair enveloped her before she could imagine his reaction. She hated to seem so insecure in his presence.

"You must understand that if I tired of your presence, or felt taken upon, I would in form you forthright. I don't want anymore falsities or lies between us." Severus leaned down and captured her in a kiss, one she hadn't been expecting. His hands travelled up and down her back as her hands began to cup his face. She hadn't known such passion could reside in a man so seemingly closed off from every emotion.

"What I told you last night, I needed to tell you. For once, I want to be completely honest with you about my life, including my past." She understood exactly what he meant and jumped to kiss him softly once more. His lips were cold, but still full and now red with blood and excitement. She liked the feel of his lips against her warm ones, all tingly and velvety. She pushed him away from Sidney's bassinet and then pulled him tightly to her once again.

"If we are beginning with honesty, there are some things I must tell you." His faced seemed surprised by her interjection, but amused at the same time.

"It's only fair, of course." He quipped, but the look in her eyes suddenly made him feel she was going to reveal something tragic.

"I stole from you in second year and before that I set fire to your robes at the Quidditch game. When my husband came to talk to you about the hedges, he didn't know you were my former professor. That night, he came home and talked of the easiness of your conversation. He seemed so enamoured with you, in a completely platonic way of course. I don't know why I am telling you or what significance will come from it, but oh well. In school, I defended you a great deal whenever Ron or Harry would call you some horrid name, I defended you. I have always seen the real you, even if I didn't know your true history." She smiled meekly at home and then turned her attention to the wedding band on her right hand. It would be a year in one month. A whole year since she'd received the phone call that Wallace would be coming home late, not to worry or wait up. The silver shimmered slightly as she held it up to the light. The obsidian created a prism as well. In haste, she walked from him and walked to her jewellery box and stopped short to slide the circle of silver off of her finger. The instant it touched the velvet lining, she knew that she could not, would not ever put the ring on again. When she turned to face Severus, she was surprised to see him holding Sidney against his chest.

"Your daughter was wakeful." Hermione walked to them, eyes brimming with unshed tears and rubbed her daughters back.

"Thank you." She said, taking the girl into her arms. Sidney opened her eyes and peeked up at Hermione, smiling again.

"She has smiled twice today, does that make me a good mother?" She asked, rhetorically.

"You are a good mother." He replied.

"Sallie and Ron will be here soon." She leaned forward and kissed him again, Sidney quiet against her chest.

"Very well, ready yourself for an interesting dinner." Severus turned swiftly and exited her rooms. Hermione fed Sidney, changed her and then lay on the bed for a brief rest. The day had flown by quickly, yet so much had seemed to happen. After running a brush through her hair, she crept slowly downstairs to see if Sallie and Ron had arrived. Apparently they had, but when she walked by Atticus' rooms, she heard muffled crying. He had been having a rest as well and apparently the nightmares were contagious. His room was decorated much like hers, yet where hers was purple and yellow his was blue and green. She came to his side and stroked his cheeks trying to calm him so he could rest. In sleep he looked a great deal like Severus and overwhelmingly, Hermione wondered what it would be like to have his child. Would he be a good father? Instantly, just as the thought had come to her, she squashed it down within her. Severus wasn't her husband, her lover. She had only just given birth a month before to another man's child, her missed husband of almost six years, she shouldn't have been thinking of another man so quickly.

"Hermione, it was so horrible. I saw Sallie, she was crying and Harrison was dead. He was broken." Atticus launched up from his sleep and wrapped his arms tightly around Hermione, his little hands in fists.

"Oh, but honey that isn't going to happen. It was only a terrible dream. Walk with me to the hall and we will find your sister, okay?" She smoothed his hair back and kissed his forehead.

"Would you please just sit with me for a second, I will feel better." Hermione nodded and held the small boy. She remembered the first time she'd seen him the previous July in the bookstore, asking about trains. He was dark like Severus, all pale and severe, but his eyes were a warm brown unlike Severus' and Michael's. Sallie had the same warm eyes, except hers were hazel like Eleanor. Hermione sighed and pulled away from Atticus to see if he was feeling better.

"Did you make something for Sallie?" She asked, noticing the oddly shaped package on his bedside table.

"I saved up my money since Christmas and bought her something this year. I miss having Mum and Dad at birthdays. I mean, Uncle Severus had been, well it's not like I had them for very long. I was only four when they died, almost five, but still too young. She gave me this picture book when they died so I would always have them to remember, but I can't remember much." He handed the book to Hermione and she braced herself, wondering what Solaris and Satinus would look like. She opened the book and saw at first a gaggle of children, a child's birthday party. Then, upon turning the page, she looked directly into the eyes of Severus's brother, a man who looked nothing like she thought he would. He was shorter, broader, and lighter. His skin was pale, but his hair was a hayseed brown and his eyes were blue, like the Malfoys. Solaris was the dark one, her eyes were like coal and her hair too. She looked to Atticus and for once thought that he looked more like Solaris and Severus than Satinus.

"That is lovely, sweetheart." Hermione closed the book and helped Atticus stand. As they walked through the hall into the dining hall, she looked to Sallie and Severus and a thought entered her mind that hadn't before, what is Eleanor had only thought it was Satinus visiting her, what if she had become pregnant during a time when Severus was using the polyjuice. She watched them laugh together and then, came to Severus' side, determined to find a way to either prove or disprove her theory.


End file.
